The Common Waxbill (Estrilda astrild), is a flower eating, perching song bird native to regions of sub-Saharan Africa, in areas such as Sierra Leone, Liberia, and the Congo। This sweet bird of petite (plump) dimensions and delicately colored plumage is a fantastic birding trophy. The waxbill is popular and easy to keep in captivity. A small bird, the waxbill is 11 to 13 cm in length with a wingspan of 12 to 14 cm and weigh in at 7 to 10 grams.The waxbill has a slender head and shortened neck to a plumpish compact body with black bill, short rounded wings, and a long tail. The Bare Breasted Waxbill has the necessary plumage to merit that name, with rich dark red breast and under parts highlighting the contrast. The Violet Wared Waxbill has a brilliant streak of color, in cheeks and tail feathers, as does the Blue Waxbill with its dark powder blueish breast and underparts. The waxbill tail is long but sharply defined and somewhat stiff.
The plumage of the common waxbill is mostly grey-brown, finely barred with dark brown. But lighter plumage and fantastic colorations exist. Red stripes, orange cheeks, scarlet wing and shoulders, and colored belly bands make the waxbill plumage noteworthy. Underparts and rump may show faint colorations to suit. Females of the common waxbill are similar to the males, but are more pale with less red on the belly. Orange beaks generally prevail.
The Common Waxbill offers a scope and variety of twitters and calls, especially during flight. Waxbills usually flock feed on grass seeds and insects by perch feeding from flowers directly. The Waxbill has spread to European shores, Spain, and Portugal, and also across seas to ocean islands like Vanuatu and Hawaiian Pacific Islands. The slightly inset eyes and compact beak and head make the waxbill a good observer of its environment.
The waxbill saves its more specialized behavior for nest building। The waxbill nest is a large bulbous mass of woven and interleafed grass stems. The purpose-built entrance channel allows the Waxbill to squirrel inside. Nests (and possibly second nests) are cavity built opportunistically amid vegetation. Co-parenting of 4 to 7 eggs occurs. Another bird, the Pintailed Whydah, may “borrow” the nest and apply a few egglings of its own for the waxbill to watch over and feed.
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