Estrildidae

Red-backed mannikin Lonchura nigriceps, copyright Alan Mason.

Belongs within: Passerida.
Contains: Poephilinae, Lonchura, Erythrura, Lagonosticta, Estrilda.

The Estrildidae, the waxbills, are a family of small, gregarious finch-like birds with small, stout, pointed bills and short rounded wings found in Africa, southern Asia and Australasia. Many waxbills are brightly coloured, and this family includes many of the 'finches' of the aviary trade. The phylogenetic analyses by Burleigh et al. (2015) and Jetz et al. (2012) support a basal African clade including the green-backed twinspot Mandingoa nitidula and the crimsonwings Cryptospiza. Other members of the family include the Australian firetails of the genus Stagonopleura, characterised by a red bill, brown upperparts with a bright red rump, and barred underparts.

<==Estrildidae [Astrildidae, Estreldidae, Estrildinae, Lonchurinae]
    |  i. s.: Oreostruthus fuliginosus JT12
    |         Lemuresthes nana JF06
    |--+--Mandingoa nitidula BKB15
    |  `--Cryptospiza Salvadori 1884 JT12, B94 [Cryptospizinae]
    |       |--C. jacksoni JT12
    |       |--C. reichenovii JT12
    |       `--C. salvadorii JT12
    `--+--+--Poephilinae BKB15
       |  `--+--+--Odontospiza BKB15
       |     |  |    |--O. caniceps [=Lonchura caniceps] JF06
       |     |  |    `--O. griseicapilla BKB15 [=Lonchura griseicapilla JT12]
       |     |  `--Spermestes Swainson 1837 BKB15, B94
       |     |       |--S. cucullatus BKB15 [=Lonchura cucullata JF06]
       |     |       |    |--S. c. cucullatus L81
       |     |       |    `--‘Lonchura cucullata’ scutata L81
       |     |       `--+--S. fringilloides BKB15 [=Lonchura fringilloides JF06]
       |     |          `--+--S. bicolor BKB15 [=Lonchura bicolor JF06]
       |     |             `--‘Lonchura’ nigriceps JT12
       |     `--+--Lonchura BKB15
       |        `--+--Euodice BKB15
       |           |    |--E. cantans BKB15 [=Lonchura malabarica cantans JF06, L81]
       |           |    `--E. malabarica BKB15 [=Lonchura malabarica JF06]
       |           `--Stagonopleura BKB15
       |                |--S. bella (Latham 1802) [=Loxia bella, Zonaeginthus bellus] CC10
       |                |    |--S. b. bella CC10
       |                |    `--S. b. samueli (Mathews 1912) [=Zonaeginthus bellus samueli] CC10
       |                |--S. guttata (Shaw 1796) [=Loxia guttata, Steganopleura (l. c.) guttata] CC10
       |                `--S. oculata JT12
       `--+--+--Chloebia gouldiae JF06
          |  `--Erythrura BKB15
          `--+--+--+--+--‘Lagonosticta’ sanguinodorsalis BKB15
             |  |  |  `--Ortygospiza BKB15
             |  |  |       |--O. atricollis JT12
             |  |  |       |--O. fuscocrissa JT12
             |  |  |       |--O. gabonensis JT12
             |  |  |       `--O. locustella JT12
             |  |  `--+--‘Pytilia’ melba BKB15
             |  |     `--+--Euschistospiza Wolters 1943 BKB15, B94 (see below for synonymy)
             |  |        |    `--E. cinereovinacea JT12
             |  |        `--Hypargos BKB15
             |  |             |--H. margaritatus JT12
             |  |             `--H. niveoguttatus JT12
             |  `--+--Lagonosticta BKB15
             |     `--+--Pyrenestes Swainson 1837 BKB15, B94 [Pyrenestinae]
             |        |    |--P. minor JT12
             |        |    `--P. sanguineus JT12
             |        |--Granatina Sharpe 1890 BKB15, B94
             |        |    `--G. granatina BKB15 [=Uraeginthus granatinus JF06]
             |        `--+--Uraeginthus Cabanis 1851 JT12, B94
             |           |    |--U. angolensis JT12
             |           |    |    |--U. a. angolensis L81
             |           |    |    `--U. a. niassensis L81
             |           |    `--+--U. bengalus JT12
             |           |       `--U. cyanocephalus JT12
             |           `--+--‘Pyrenestes’ ostrinus BKB15
             |              `--+--Spermophaga BKB15
             |                 |    |--S. haematina JT12
             |                 |    |--S. poliogenys JT12
             |                 |    `--S. ruficapilla JT12
             |                 `--Pytilia Swainson 1837 JT12, B94 [Pytiliidae, Pytiliinae]
             |                      |--P. afra BKB15
             |                      `--+--P. lineata BKB15
             |                         `--+--P. hypogrammica BKB15
             |                            `--P. phoenicoptera JT12
             `--+--Heteromunia Mathews 1913 BKB15, B94 [Heteromuniinae]
                |    `--H. pectoralis (Gould 1840) BKB15, WS48 [=Amadina pectoralis WS48, Lonchura pectoralis WS48]
                `--+--Sporaeginthus formosus BKB15
                   |--+--Amadina Swainson 1827 BKB15, B94 [Amadininae]
                   |  |    |--A. cucullata D66
                   |  |    |--A. erythrocephala JT12
                   |  |    |--A. fasciata JT12
                   |  |    |--A. lathami B66
                   |  |    `--A. modesta R87
                   |  `--+--‘Euschistospiza’ dybowskii BKB15
                   |     `--+--Sporaeginthus subflavus BKB15
                   |        `--Amandava Blyth 1836 BKB15, B94 [Amandavinae]
                   |             |--A. formosa JT12
                   |             `--+--A. amandava JT12
                   |                |    |--A. a. amandava L81
                   |                |    `--A. a. punicea L81
                   |                `--A. subflava JT12
                   `--+--Nigrita BKB15
                      |    |  i. s.: N. fusconotus JT12
                      |    |         N. luteifrons JT12
                      |    |--N. canicapillus JT12
                      |    `--+--N. bicolor JT12
                      |       `--Parmoptila JT12
                      |            |--P. jamesoni JT12
                      |            |--P. rubrifrons JT12 [=Pholidornis rubrifrons SPS03]
                      |            `--P. woodhousei JT12
                      `--+--+--‘Nesocharis’ capistata BKB15
                         |  `--Estrilda BKB15
                         `--+--+--Coccopygia melanotis BKB15 [=Estrilda melanotis JF06]
                            |  `--‘Cryptospiza’ shelleyi BKB15
                            `--+--Coccopygia quartinia BKB15 [=Estrilda quartinia JF06]
                               `--Nesocharis BKB15
                                    |--N. ansorgei JT12
                                    `--N. shelleyi JT12

Euschistospiza Wolters 1943 BKB15, B94 [incl. Didymosticta Steiner 1960 (n. n.) B94; Didymostictinae]

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[B66] Bartlett, A. D. 1866. Notes on the breeding of several species of birds in the Society's gardens during the year 1865. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1866: 76–79.

[B94] Bock, W. J. 1994. History and nomenclature of avian family-group names. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 222: 1–281.

[BKB15] Burleigh, J. G., R. T. Kimball & E. L. Braun. 2015. Building the avian tree of life using a large-scale, sparse supermatrix. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 84: 53–63.

[CC10] Checklist Committee (OSNZ). 2010. Checklist of the Birds of New Zealand, Norfolk and Macquarie Islands, and the Ross Dependency, Antarctica 4^th ed. Ornithological Society of New Zealand and Te Papa Press: Wellington.

[D66] Dohrn, H. 1866. Synopsis of the birds of Ilha do Principe, with some remarks on their habits and descriptions of new species. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1866: 324–332.

[JT12] Jetz, W., G. H. Thomas, J. B. Joy, K. Hartmann & A. Ø. Mooers. 2012. The global diversity of birds in space and time. Nature 491: 444–448.

[JF06] Jønsson, K. A., & J. Fjeldså. 2006. A phylogenetic supertree of oscine passerine birds. Zoologica Scripta 35: 149–186.

[L81] Long, J. L. 1981. Introduced Birds of the World: The worldwide history, distribution and influence of birds introduced to new environments. Reed: Sydney.

[R87] Ramsay, E. P. 1887. Descriptions of Australian birds' eggs. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, series 2, 1 (4): 1141–1152, pl. 19.

[SPS03] Sefc, K. M., R. B. Payne & M. D. Sorenson. 2003. Phylogenetic relationships of African sunbird-like warblers: Moho (Hyperergus atriceps), green hylia (Hylia prasina) and tit-hylia (Pholidornis rushiae). Ostrich 74: 8–17.

[WS48] Whittell, H. M., & D. L. Serventy. 1948. A systematic list of the birds of Western Australia. Public Library, Museum and Art Gallery of Western Australia, Special Publication 1: 1–126.

Last updated: 9 July 2019.