The quailfinch (''Ortygospiza atricollis'') is a species of the

estrildid finch Estrildidae, or estrildid finches, is a family (taxonomy), family of small seed-eating passerine birds of the Old World tropics and Australasia. They comprise species commonly known as munias, mannikins, firefinches, parrotfinches and waxbills. ...

. It is found in open grasslands in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

. They are gregarious seed-eaters with short, thick, red bills. They are very terrestrial, with lark-like feet and claws.

Systematics

Previously, three species were recognized, but are now considered subspecies: * Black-chinned quailfinch, ''Ortygospiza atricollis gabonensis'' *

African quailfinch The African quailfinch, spectacled quailfinch, or white-chinned quailfinch (''Ortygospiza atricollis fuscocrissa''), is a common species of estrildid finch found in eastern and southern Africa. Some taxonomists consider it to be conspecific with ...

, ''Ortygospiza atricollis fuscocrissa'' * Black-faced quailfinch, ''Ortygospiza atricollis atricollis'' The

locust finch The locust finch or locustfinch (''Paludipasser locustella'') is a species of waxbill found in south-central and south-eastern Africa. It is the only species in the genus ''Paludipasser''. It is sometimes placed in the genus ''Ortygospiza''. T ...

, ''Paludipasser locustella'', is considered a member of this genus by some taxonomists. Two issues are contentious: First, whether the locustfinch should be included here or given its own

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unisp ...

genus. Second, the "African quailfinch" complex might comprise one or three (sub)species. The two-taxon arrangement as found in most field guides and used by the

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...

, was recently shown to be based only on a single character (the color of the chin and throat). It is certainly erroneous, being contradicted by all other morphological,

behavior Behavior (American English) or behaviour (British English) is the range of actions of Individual, individuals, organisms, systems or Artificial intelligence, artificial entities in some environment. These systems can include other systems or or ...

al and

DNA sequence A nucleic acid sequence is a succession of bases within the nucleotides forming alleles within a DNA (using GACT) or RNA (GACU) molecule. This succession is denoted by a series of a set of five different letters that indicate the order of the nu ...

data. The molecular data would support a two-taxon arrangement with the

taxa In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; : taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular name and ...

''atricollis'' and ''fuscocrissa'', but this is not supported by the other data. In conclusion, either ''gabonensis'' should be merged back into ''atricollis'', or ''fuscocrissa'' should be restored to (sub)species status.

Gene flow In population genetics, gene flow (also known as migration and allele flow) is the transfer of genetic variation, genetic material from one population to another. If the rate of gene flow is high enough, then two populations will have equivalent ...

in the "African quailfinch" complex is still ongoing, and the three lineages therein either form a

superspecies In biology, a species complex is a group of closely related organisms that are so similar in appearance and other features that the boundaries between them are often unclear. The taxa in the complex may be able to hybridize readily with each oth ...

, or can be considered a single, wide-ranging and very variable species.Payne & Sorenson (2007)

References

* Clement, Peter; Harris, Alan & Davis, John (1993): ''Finches and Sparrows: an identification guide''.

Christopher Helm Christopher Alexander Roger Helm (born Dundee, 1 February 1937 – 20 January 2007) was a Scottish book publisher, notably of ornithology related titles, including the ''Helm Identification Guides''. Born in Dundee, he was raised in Forfar, wh ...

, London. * Payne, Robert B. & Sorenson, Michael D. (2007): Integrative systematics at the species level: plumage, songs and molecular phylogeny of quailfinches ''Ortygospiza''. '' Bull. B.O.C.'' 127(1): 4-26
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Ortygospiza Birds described in 1817 Taxa named by Louis Pierre Vieillot {{Estrildidae-stub