Bar-breasted Firefinch

About the Bar-breasted Firefinch

The bar-breasted firefinch (Lagonosticta rufopicta) is a common species of estrildid finch found in western and central Africa. It has an estimated global extent of occurrence of 2,900,000 km². The bar-breasted firefinch with a red head and breast and white barring or speckling on the breast. The forehead, lores and supercilium are deep red fading on the ear coverts, chin, throat and neck sides to less intensely red colour. The crown and most of the upperparts are greyish brown and rather uniform contrasting with deep red lower rump and upper tail coverts. Tail is darker brown than back with variable amounts of red near the base. Flight feathers are dark. The underparts below the crimson breast are buffy grey. Juveniles are much duller with red being confined to the rump and upper tail coverts. 11 cm in length.

The bar-breasted firefinch is found from the Gambia and southern Senegal east to western Uganda and eastern Kenya. The bar-breasted firefinch is a common bird of grassland, bush, acacia savanna and forest clearings but will also occur near settlements and in farmland, especially in damp areas. It occurs in pairs and... Wikipedia →