African Silverbill
Conservation status
Least Concern
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Passeriformes Family: Estrildidae Genus: Lonchura Species: L. cantans
Binomial name
Lonchura cantans (Gmelin, 1789)

The African Silverbill (Lonchura cantans) is a small passerine bird formerly considered conspecific with the Asian species Indian Silverbill, Lonchura malabarica. This estrildid finch is a common resident breeding bird in dry savanna habitat, south of the Sahara Desert. This species is also been introduced to a few countries such as Portugal, Qatar and USA. The conservation status of a species is an indicator of the likelihood of that species continuing to survive either in the present day or the future. ... Image File history File links Status_iucn3. ... Least Concern (LC) is an IUCN category assigned to species or lower taxa which do not qualify for any other category. ... Scientific classification or biological classification is a method by which biologists group and categorize species of organisms. ... Animalia redirects here. ... Typical Classes See below Chordates (phylum Chordata) are a group of animals that includes the vertebrates, together with several closely related invertebrates. ... Aves redirects here. ... Families Many, see text A passerine is a bird of the giant order Passeriformes. ... Genera Many:see text The estrildid finches are small passerine birds of the Old World tropics and Australasia. ... Species See text. ... In biology, binomial nomenclature is the formal method of naming species. ... Johann Friedrich Gmelin (August 8, 1748 - November 1, 1804) was a German naturalist and botanist. ... Families Many, see text A passerine is a bird of the giant order Passeriformes. ... Aves redirects here. ... Binomial name Lonchura malabarica Linnaeus, 1758 The Indian Silverbill or White-throated Munia (Lonchura malabarica) is a small passerine bird formerly considered conspecific with the closely related African Silverbill, Lonchura cantans. ... Genera Many:see text The estrildid finches are small passerine birds of the Old World tropics and Australasia. ... The Sahara is the worlds second largest desert (second to Antarctica), over 9,000,000 km² (3,500,000 mi²), located in northern Africa and is 2. ...

The African Silverbill is a gregarious bird which feeds mainly on seeds. It frequents dry acacia and thorn scrub. The nest is a large domed grass structure in a tree or under eaves, into which 5-10 white eggs are laid. Species About 1,300; see List of Acacia species Acacia tree in the Serengeti, Tanzania Acacia is a genus of shrubs and trees of Gondwanian origin belonging to the Subfamily Mimosoideae of the family Fabaceae, first described from Africa by Linnaeus in 1773. ...

The African Silverbill is 10cm in length with a long black tail. The adult has a stubby silver-grey bill, finely vermiculated buff-brown upperparts, whitish underparts and dark wings. The sexes are similar, but immatures lack the vermiculations. This species has a chink call and a trilling song.

References

• BirdLife International (2004). Lonchura cantans. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 12 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern
• Birds of The Gambia by Barlow, Wacher and Disley, ISBN 1-873403-32-1

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (also known as the IUCN Red List and Red Data List), created in 1963, is the worlds most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of plant and animal species. ... The World Conservation Union or International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) is an international organization dedicated to natural resource conservation. ...

External link

• African Silverbill Species Profile