Bulletin 377 - Uganda #21 - Waxbills, Mannikins and others

 After the week in the Capetown area, the guide Casper Badenhorst, and I flew to Uganda and met a local guide. We started at Entebbe Airport on the southeast corner of Uganda and made a diagonal trip to Murchison Falls NP in the northwest corner. From there, we proceeded south through a chain of nature preserves and parks to the southwest corner at Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. We finished along the southern border back to the airport.

The estrildidae family of Old World songbirds are small, often brightly colored birds that are popular in the pet trade. There are 141 species in this bird family and I photographed 9 of them in Uganda. I will present them from the plainest to the most colorful (in my opinion.)

The 3.5" Bronze Mannikin (Lonchura cucullata) has a brown back, light breast, streaking on belly, and a black face and throat. It is often found in the USA as escaped cage birds.

Bronze Mannikin - male

His cousin the male 3.5" Black-and-White Mannikin (Lonchura bicolor) is just as his name suggests.

Black-and-White Mannikin - male

The 5.5" Gray-headed Nigrita (Nigrita canicapillus) is black with a gray head and nape and a few white spots on his shoulders. The red eye adds a bit of color.

Gray-headed Nigrita

His cousin, the 4.5" White-breasted Nigrita (Nigrita fusconotus) is snow white underneath with a black head and brown back - not seen in the photo.

White-breasted Nigrita

The 4" Black-crowned Waxbill (Estrilda nonnula) is black and white and gray with some red on the wings and rump.

Black-crowned Waxbill

The 4" Orange-cheeked Waxbill (Estrilda melpoda) is brown backed with gray underparts and an orange face and bill. It is a recent arrival in southwestern Uganda as its range has extended northwards from Burundi through Rwanda into southwestern Uganda in the past decade.

Orange-cheeked Waxbill

The male 4" Red-billed Firefinch (Lagonosticta senegala) is red all over - so a nice cage bird.

Red-billed Firefinch - male

The 4" Yellow-bellied Waxbill (Coccopygia quartinia) has a gray head, olive back and wings, yellow belly and a red rump and lower mandible.

Yellow-bellied Waxbill

Drum roll please for our champion - the amazing 5" Red-cheeked Cordon-bleu (Uraeginthus bengalus). He is such a cute little bird.

Red-cheeked Cordon-bleu

I put the different bird/mammal families in single folders for easy viewing

I have photos of 23 of the 141 species of waxbills and others

Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald

dkmmdpa@gmail.com

photos copyright 2006 - 2020 David McDonald

To have these trip reports sent to your email, please email me at the above address and ask to subscribe.