Estrildidae, or estrildid finches, is a

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

of small seed-eating

passerine A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped'), which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines are distinguished from other orders of birds by th ...

birds of the Old World tropics and

Australasia Australasia is a region that comprises Australia, New Zealand and some neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term is used in a number of different contexts, including geopolitically, physiogeographically, philologically, and ecologi ...

. They comprise species commonly known as munias, mannikins, firefinches, parrotfinches and waxbills. Despite the word "finch" being included in the common names of some species, they are not closely related to birds with this name in other families, such as the

Fringillidae The true finches are small to medium-sized passerine birds in the family Fringillidae. Finches have stout conical bills adapted for eating seeds and nuts and often have colourful plumage. They occupy a great range of habitats where they are usua ...

Emberizidae The buntings are a group of Old World passerine birds forming the genus ''Emberiza'', the only genus in the family Emberizidae. The family contains 45 species. They are seed-eating birds with stubby, conical bills. Taxonomy The family Emberizid ...

Passerellidae New World sparrows are a group of mainly New World passerine birds, forming the family Passerellidae. They are seed-eating birds with conical bills, brown or gray in color, and many species have distinctive head patterns. Although they share t ...

. They are gregarious and often colonial seed eaters with short, thick, but pointed bills. They are all similar in structure and habits, but vary widely in plumage colours and patterns. All estrildids build large, domed nests and lay five to ten white eggs. Many species build roost nests. Some of the firefinches and pytilias are hosts to the brood-parasitic indigobirds and whydahs, respectively. Most are sensitive to cold and require warm, usually tropical, habitats, although a few, such as the

eastern alpine mannikin The eastern alpine mannikin (''Lonchura monticola'') or alpine munia, is a species of estrildid finch native to the Papuan Peninsula. It has an estimated global extent of occurrence of 20,000 to 50,000 km2. It is found in subtropical/ tropi ...

mountain firetail The mountain firetail (''Oreostruthus fuliginosus'') is a common species of estrildid finch found in New Guinea. It has an estimated global extent of occurrence of 20,000-50,000 km2. It is the only species in the genus ''Oreostruthus''. It ...

red-browed finch The red-browed finch (''Neochmia temporalis'') is an estrildid finch that inhabits the east coast of Australia. This species has also been introduced to French Polynesia. It is commonly found in temperate forest and dry savannah habitats. It may ...

, and the genus ''Stagonopleura'', have adapted to the cooler climates of southern Australia and the highlands of

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; id, Papua, or , historically ) is the world's second-largest island with an area of . Located in Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the wide Torr ...

. The smallest species of the family is the

Shelley's oliveback Shelley's oliveback (''Nesocharis shelleyi''), also known as the Fernando Po oliveback, is a species of estrildid finch found in Africa. It has an estimated global extent of occurrence of 55,000 km2. It is found in Bioko island, western Cam ...

(''Nesocharis shelleyi'') at a mere , although the lightest species is the

black-rumped waxbill The black-rumped waxbill (''Estrilda troglodytes'') is a common species of estrildid finch found in Southern Africa. It has an estimated global extent of occurrence of 2,000,000 km2. It is found in Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central Afr ...

(''Estrilda troglodytes'') at . The largest species is the

Java sparrow The Java sparrow (''Padda oryzivora''), also known as Java finch, Java rice sparrow or Java rice bird, is a small passerine bird. This estrildid finch is a resident breeding bird in Java, Bali and Bawean in Indonesia. It is a popular cage bird, ...

(''Padda oryzivora'') at and .

Taxonomy

The family Estrildidae was introduced in 1850 by the French naturalist Charles Lucien Bonaparte as "Estreldinae", a spelling variant of the subfamily name. In the list of world birds maintained by

Frank Gill Frank Gill may refer to: * Frank Gill (Australian footballer) (1908–1970), Australian rules footballer with Carlton * Frank Gill (footballer, born 1948), footballer for Tranmere Rovers *Frank Gill (politician) (1917–1982), New Zealand politicia ...

Pamela Rasmussen Pamela Cecile Rasmussen (born October 16, 1959) is an American ornithologist and expert on Asian birds. She was formerly a research associate at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., and is based at the Michigan State University. Sh ...

and David Donsker on behalf of the

International Ornithological Committee The International Ornithologists' Union, formerly known as the International Ornithological Committee, is a group of about 200 international ornithologists, and is responsible for the International Ornithological Congress and other international ...

(IOC) the family contains 141 species divided into 41 genera. Molecular phylogenetic studies have shown the family Estrildidae is

sister A sister is a woman or a girl who shares one or more parents with another individual; a female sibling. The male counterpart is a brother. Although the term typically refers to a family, familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to r ...

to the family

Viduidae __NOTOC__ The indigobirds and whydahs, together with the cuckoo-finch, make up the family Viduidae; they are small passerine birds native to Africa. These are finch-like species which usually have black or indigo predominating in their plumage ...

containing the indigobirds and whydahs. The two families diverged around 15.5 million year ago. The

most recent common ancestor In biology and genetic genealogy, the most recent common ancestor (MRCA), also known as the last common ancestor (LCA) or concestor, of a set of organisms is the most recent individual from which all the organisms of the set are descended. The ...

of the Estrildidae is estimated to have lived around 10.9 million years ago. A genetic study of the Estrildidae by Urban Olsson and Per Alström published in 2020 identified 6 major

clades A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English term, ...

. The radiations within these clades occurred between 4.5 and 8.9 million years ago. The authors proposed that each of these clades should be treated as a subfamily. This contrasts with an earlier proposal in which the family was divided into three subfamilies.

Genera list

References

External links

Zipcode Zoo: Estrildidae

Internet Bird Collection.com: Estrildidae videos, photos and sounds

Waxbill Finch Society
— specialist waxbill bird society based in the UK''. {{Authority control Bird families . .