Black-faced Waxbill ( Estrilda erythronotos, family: Estrildidae)

Birds & Birding in the Kruger National Park South Africa. In Roberts 6 this bird was called Black-cheeked Waxbill

black faced waxbill kruger national park birds The Black-faced Waxbill (Latin name Estrilda erythronotos) is described in Roberts Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition. This bird has a unique Roberts number of 847 and you will find a full description of this bird on page 1047 also a picture of the Black-faced Waxbill on page 1057. The Black-faced Waxbill belongs to the family of birds classified as Estrildidae.

In the previous edition of Roberts (ie 6th edition) the Black-faced Waxbill was called the Black-cheeked Waxbill

The map of the Kruger you see on this page shows the areas (coloured orange) where this bird has been identified. The basic information was provided by the Avian Demographic Unit based at UCT and I created the maps from that information ... the green dots show the locations of the various Kruger National Park Rest Camps

The Black-faced Waxbill is neither Endemic or near Endemic to the Kruger National Park.

In terms of distribution of the Black-faced Waxbill in the Kruger National Park you may not see it in all areas. Black-faced Waxbill has been recorded in only 1 sections of the arbitrary Kruger Park regions I selected.

Identification assistance for this avian species ...

One of the first indicators to take note of when trying to identify a bird is it relative size. For example how big is the bird compared to a well known familiar bird. The Black-faced Waxbill is a small bird about the size of a house sparrow. Do not take this relative indicator as anything other than a rough easy to remember indicator. It is not a accurate visualization. The height of the Black-faced Waxbill is about 13 cms and its weight is about 9 gms

You will find that the male Black-faced Waxbill plumage and colours are different to that of the female Black-faced Waxbill

  • Head is grey, brown.
  • Eye is crimson.
  • Bill is black.
  • Throat is pink.
  • Back is brown.
  • Legs are black.

This bird has normally proportioned leg length.

Main diet items for this bird ...

The Black-faced Waxbill feeds on the ground, and on the wing mainly

Invertebrates

Seeds

Breeding and nesting habits for this bird ...

The Black-faced Waxbill is monogamous unless its mate dies. In the event of a partner dying Estrilda erythronotos will seek out a new mate

The nesting habit of Black-faced Waxbill is to create the nest in branches of a tree or shrub. The bird lays eggs which are white in colour and number between 2 to 4

Habitat and flocking behaviour for this bird ...

The preferred habitats for Black-faced Waxbill are: woodlands . The Black-faced Waxbill is also at home in wetland and bushveld areas.

You will normally see the Black-faced Waxbill in flocks.

Names of this avian species in other languages ...

Xhosa ... Unknown

Zulu ... Unknown

Afrikaans ...Swartwangsysie

German ... Elfenastrild

Portuguese ... Bico-de-lacre-de-faces-pretas

French ... Astrild moustaches

Dutch ... Elfenastrild

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For in-depth birding information please refer to these authoritative avian references ...

Robert's 7th edition number ... 847

The main reference source for this data was "Roberts - Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition" . Other references were "Newmans Birds of the Kruger Park" by Keith Newman published circa 1980 . Names in foreign languages were obtained from the Percy Fitzpatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town website , www.fitzpatrick.uct.ac.za