African Wildlife & Environment Issue 84 2023

BIRDING

in the distribution. Although frequently recorded from riparian fringing vegetation in the Okavango, it is also common in thornveld. In gardens they often feed with other species like Bronze-winged Mannikins and are seen on road verges with Blue Waxbills.This Firefinch is parasitized by the Purple Indigobird.

Photographs: Albert Froneman

inhabits riverine forest, bush, and thickets. In drier habitats, it is restricted to relict forest patches and riparian vegetation. In Zimbabwe’s eastern highlands, the moist, east-facing slopes below 1600 m are

Photograph: Albert Froneman

African Firefinch Lagonosticta rubricata

preferred. The African Firefinch can also be seen in and around gardens and rural villages but not as commonly as some other firefinch species. Parasitized by the Dusky Indigobird.

Brown Firefinch Lagonosticta nitidula

Moist, wooded habitats are preferred, from the escarpment to the littoral plain. In Afromontane areas it favours forest margins and bracken briar. It is a localized resident of riverine bush in the eastern Cape Province. In low-lying areas, it

The diminutive Brown Firefinch ranges from southcentral to western Africa. In the Bird Atlas region, it is restricted to the Okavango and other major river systems in northern Botswana,

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