The green-winged pytilia (Pytilia melba) is a small colourful seed-eating bird in the family Estrildidae. It is widespread throughout Sub-Saharan Africa, though it is more rarely seen in central, far southern and coastal western parts of the continent.
| Green-winged pytilia | |
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| Adult male, Tsavo East NP, Kenya | |
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| Female, San Diego Zoo | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Estrildidae |
| Genus: | Pytilia |
| Species: | P. melba
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| Binomial name | |
| Pytilia melba | |
| Synonyms | |
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Fringilla melba Linnaeus, 1758 | |
Taxonomy
editThe green-winged pytilia was formally described in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Fringilla melba.[2] No explanation was provided for the specific epithet melba but it could possibly be from a supposed Chinese word or place.[3] Linnaeus based his description on "The Green Gold-Finch" that had been described and illustrated in 1750 by the English naturalist George Edwards in his A Natural History of Uncommon Birds.[4] Edwards was uncertain of the origin of his specimen and Linnaeus mistakenly specified the locality as China. The specimen was subsequently assumed to be from Angola,[5] but this was restricted to Luanda in Angola by Phillip Clancey in 1962.[6] The green-winged pytilia is now placed in the genus Pytilia that was introduced in 1837 by the English naturalist William John Swainson for the red-winged pytilia.[7][8]
Eight subspecies are recognised:[8]
- P. m. citerior Strickland, 1853 – Mauritania, Senegal and Gambia to south Sudan
- P. m. jessei Shelley, 1903 – northeast Sudan to northwest Somalia
- P. m. soudanensis (Sharpe, 1890) – southeast Sudan, south Ethiopia, central, south Somalia, northeast Uganda and north, east Kenya
- P. m. percivali Van Someren, 1919 – central Kenya to north Tanzania
- P. m. belli Ogilvie-Grant, 1907 – east DR Congo and west Uganda to west Tanzania
- P. m. grotei Reichenow, 1919 – east Tanzania, north Mozambique and east Malawi
- P. m. hygrophila Irwin & Benson, 1967 – north Zambia and north Malawi
- P. m. melba (Linnaeus, 1758) – south Congo and Angola to southwest Tanzania and south to central Namibia, north South Africa and south Mozambique
Gallery
edit-
Male, San Diego Zoo -
References
edit- ^ BirdLife International (2017). "Pytilia melba". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2017: e.T22719344A111722703. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-1.RLTS.T22719344A111722703.en. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
- ^ Linnaeus, Carl (1758). Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis (in Latin). Vol. 1 (10th ed.). Holmiae (Stockholm): Laurentii Salvii. p. 180.
- ^ Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 248. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
- ^ Edwards, George (1751). A Natural History of Uncommon Birds. Vol. Part III. London: Printed for the author at the College of Physicians. p. 128, Plate 128.
- ^ Zedlitz, O. Graf (1916). "Das Süd-Somaliland als zoogeographisches Gebiet". Journal für Ornithologie (in German). 64 (1): 1–120 [31]. Bibcode:1916JOrni..64....1Z. doi:10.1007/BF02250363. S2CID 36424707.
- ^ Clancey, Phillip Alexander (1962). "On the validity of Pytilia melba damarensis Neunzig, 1928". Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club. 82: 3–5 [4].
- ^ Swainson, William John (1837). The Natural History of the Birds of Western Africa. Vol. 1. Edinburgh: W.H. Lizars. p. 203.
- ^ a b 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 15 July 2021.
External links
edit- Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds
- Green-winged Pytilia (Melba Finch) Species Profile
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