close
Jump to content

Pytilia

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Pytilia
Green- and Orange-winged pytilias
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Estrildidae
Genus: Pytilia
Swainson, 1837
Type species
Pytilia phoenicoptera
red-winged pytilia
Swainson, 1837

Pytilia is a genus of small brightly coloured seed-eating birds in the family Estrildidae. They are distributed across Africa.

Taxonomy

[edit]

The genus Pytilia was introduced in 1837 by the English naturalist William Swainson for the red-winged pytilia.[1][2] The name Pytilia is a diminutive of the genus Pitylus that had been introduced in 1829 by the French naturalist Georges Cuvier for the grosbeaks.[3] A molecular phylogenetic study has shown that the genus is basal to a clade containing the twinspots in the genera Euschistospiza, Hypargos and Clytospiza and the firefinches in Lagonosticta.[4]

Species

[edit]

The genus contains five species:[5]

ImageCommon nameScientific nameDistribution
Orange-winged pytiliaPytilia afraAngola, Botswana, Burundi, the Republic of Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, South Africa, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe
Red-winged pytiliaPytilia phoenicopteraBenin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Togo and Uganda
Red-billed pytiliaPytilia lineataEthiopia
Green-winged pytiliaPytilia melbaSub-Saharan Africa
Yellow-winged pytiliaPytilia hypogrammicaBenin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Togo

References

[edit]
  1. Swainson, William (1837). Jardine, William (ed.). The Natural History of the Birds of Western Africa. Part I. The Naturalist's Library. Vol. 11. Edinburgh: W.H. Lizars. p. 203.
  2. Paynter, Raymond A. Jr, ed. (1968). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 14. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 312.
  3. Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 327. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
  4. Olsson, Urban; Alström, Per (2020). "A comprehensive phylogeny and taxonomic evaluation of the waxbills (Aves: Estrildidae)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 146 106757. Bibcode:2020MolPE.14606757O. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2020.106757. PMID 32028027.
  5. Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (July 2021). "Waxbills, parrotfinches, munias, whydahs, Olive Warbler, accentors, pipits". IOC World Bird List Version 11.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 13 July 2021.