Lagonosticta senegala
The Red-billed Firefinch is fairly well distributed through South Africa and can be found in parts of all our provinces. Furthermore they occur widely over Africa, including pockets of the Sahara Desert. The IUCN considers it to be of least concern.
Red-billed Firefinches prefer thickets of rank grass and thorny shrubs in woodlands and savannas, extending their occurrence into more open areas where such micro-habitats are found, often along water courses and in gardens, where they can become quite tame. It feeds mainly on grass seeds, augmenting its diet with occasional insect fare like termites.
Breeding almost right through the year (peaking in summer and autumn when grasses are seeding), it is the male Red-billed Firefinch that takes responsibility for building the nest – a ball-shaped structure made of dry grass and feathers, usually placed in thick vegetation, and incorporating a side-entrance. The female lays a clutch of 2-6 eggs which are incubated by both parents for less than 2 weeks before the chicks hatch. Red-billed Firefinch nests are often parasitized by the Village Indigobird. The chicks leave the nest by the time they’re 3 weeks old and then become independent of their parents 2-4 weeks later. These small birds weigh only about 9g when fully grown! They’re most often seen in small flocks of up to 30 individuals, within which there are apparently strong pair-bonds, and often mingle with other small seed-eating birds.
DeWetsWild 