The Cinderella waxbill (''Glaucestrilda thomensis'') is a near-threatened species of

estrildid finch Estrildidae, or estrildid finches, is a 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. Despite the word "fi ...

found in drier regions of south-western

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

around

Namibe Province Namibe Province is a Provinces of Angola, province of Angola. Under Portuguese Angola, Portuguese rule it was the Moçâmedes District. It has an area of 57,091 km2 and had a 2014 census population of 495,326. The port and city of Namibe, Mo ...

, north and east to south-west

Huila Province Huila may refer to: Places * Huila Department, in Colombia * Huíla Province, in Angola * Nevado del Huila, (Mount Huila) volcano in Colombia * Huila River, stream in Sangre Grande, Trinidad and Tobago * Huila, Pichincha, populated place in Pichin ...

and north to Fazenda do Cuito in

Huambo Huambo, formerly Nova Lisboa (English: ''New Lisbon''), is the third-most populous city in Angola, after the capital city Luanda and Lubango, with a population of 595,304 in the city and a population of 713,134 in the municipality of Huambo (Cen ...

and extreme north-western

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

. It has an estimated global distribution of 95,700 km².

Habitat

The Cinderella waxbill is found in subtropical and tropical (lowland) dry shrubland, savannah and forest habitats at altitude of 200 to 500 m. It is observed that the recent development of a

hydroelectric plant Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined and ...

on the

Cunene River The Cunene (Portuguese spelling) or Kunene (common Namibian spelling) is a river in Southern Africa. It flows from the Angola highlands south to the border with Namibia. It then flows west along the border until it reaches the Atlantic Ocean. It ...

Epupa Falls Epupa Falls (also known as Monte Negro Falls in Angola) is a series of large waterfalls formed by the Cunene River on the border of Angola and Namibia, in the Kaokoland area of the Kunene Region. The river is about wide in this area and drops in ...

has caused changes to

insect biodiversity Insect biodiversity accounts for a large proportion of all biodiversity on the planet—over half of the estimated 1.5 million organism species described are classified as insects. Species diversity Estimates of the total number of insect species ...

which were relied on by the Cinderella waxbill during feeding of its young. Thus threatening its food source to be depleted. The waxbill also eats grass seeds, nectar and insects. The Cinderella is diurnal.

References

External links

BirdLife International species factsheetSpecies text in ''The Atlas of Southern African Birds''
Cinderella waxbill Birds of Central Africa Cinderella waxbill Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN {{Estrildidae-stub