Common Waxbill
Photo Thomas Ghestemme
4 inches. Male and female are identical in appearance. It’s a little sparrow with red on the eye patch and the beak. The rest of the body is buff-brown, finely barred with black, the belly is slightly pink. The wings have darker tones. The feathers are black when adult, pink brown when young. The beak is black until the first moult.
Astrild ondulé – Photo Alain Petit
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Estrildidae
Category : Introduced Birds
Originally from Africa and introduced in Hawaii and Tahiti between 1908 and 1919. It is also present in Moorea..
Coastal areas of Tahiti, and mouths of large valleys, it is rather rare in the valley. Gregarious, it often moves in band of several dozen individuals.
“Pee-pee-pee-pee-pee” repeated saccade.
To listen the Common Waxbill:
http://www.xeno-canto.org/species/Estrilda-astrild
Small seeds of herbaceous plants, insects.
Not studied in Polynesia. The female lays 4-6 eggs and young birds fly at the age of 15 days.
Original text by Caroline BLANVILLAIN – Supplements and update by various members of the SOP Manu.
Bibliography :
https://inpn.mnhn.fr/espece/cd_nom/4552
http://avibase.bsc-eoc.org/species.jsp?avibaseid=61CB98C064F82462
http://www.oiseaux.net/oiseaux/astrild.ondule.html
http://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/common-waxbill-estrilda-astrild
http://www.hbw.com/ibc/species/common-waxbill-estrilda-astrild
https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/22719574/131995211
Scientific Name: Estrilda astrild (Linnaeus, 1758)
Polynesian Names:
Vini
- Africa (native)
- Society: Tahiti and Moorea
Introduced in French Polynesia. The species is classified as “Least Concern” (LC) on the IUCN Red List.
