Orange-winged Pytilia

About the Orange-winged Pytilia

The orange-winged pytilia (Pytilia afra), also known as the golden-backed pytilia, is a species of estrildid finch found in Africa. It has a wide range and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has assessed it as being of least concern.

The orange-winged pytilia was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae. He placed it with the finches in the genus Fringilla and coined the binomial name Fringilla afra. Gmelin gave the locality as Angola. The specific epithet is from Latin afer meaning "Africa". Gmelin based his account on the "red-faced finch" that had been described and illustrated in 1776 by the English naturalist Peter Brown. The orange-winged pytilia is now one of five pytilias placed in the genus Pytilia that was introduced in 1837 by the English naturalist William Swainson. The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.

The orange-winged pytilia is 11 cm (4.3 in) long and weighs 14–15 g (0.49–0.53 oz). The male's forehead, face and chin are red, and its crown and nape are grey. Its back is green, with an olive tinge.... Wikipedia →