Jameson's Firefinch ( Lagonosticta rhodopareia, family: Estrildidae)
The Jameson's Firefinch (Latin name Lagonosticta rhodopareia) is
described in Roberts Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition. This bird
has a unique Roberts number of 841 and you will find a full description
of this bird on page 1064 also a picture of the Jameson's Firefinch on
page 1056. The Jameson's Firefinch belongs to the family of birds
classified as Estrildidae. According to the Percy FitzPatrick Institute
of African Ornithology the Jameson's Firefinch is also known by these
other names: Pink-backed Firefinch.
In the previous edition of Roberts (ie 6th edition) the Jameson's Firefinch was called the
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 Jameson's Firefinch is neither Endemic or near Endemic to the Kruger National Park. It is however a common resident
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 Jameson's Firefinch is an extremely small
bird about half the size of a house sparrow. The height of the Jameson's
Firefinch is about 12 cms and its weight is about 11 gms
You will find that the male Jameson's Firefinch plumage and colours are different to that of the female Jameson's Firefinch
- Head is pink.
- Eye is brown.
- Bill is black.
- Throat is pink, red.
- Back is red, brown.
- Legs are pink.
This bird has normally proportioned leg length.
Main diet items for this bird ...
The Jameson's Firefinch feeds on the ground and in foliage mainly
Invertebrates
Seeds
Breeding and nesting habits for this bird ...
The Jameson's Firefinch is monogamous unless its mate dies. In the event of a partner dying Lagonosticta rhodopareia will seek out a new mate
The nesting habit of Jameson's Firefinch is to create the nest on the ground. The bird lays eggs which are white in colour and number between 2 to 7
Habitat and flocking behaviour for this bird ...
The preferred habitats for Jameson's Firefinch are: woodlands and grasslands
You can expect to see Jameson's Firefinch in flocks, or pairs or as single birds.
Names of this avian species in other languages ...
Xhosa ... Unknown
Zulu ... Unknown
Afrikaans ...Jamesonse Vuurvinkie
German ... Rosenamarant, Jamesons Amarant
Portuguese ... Peito-de-fogo de Jameson
French ... Amarante de Jameson
Dutch ... Roze Amarant
First bird in list | Previous bird viewed | Next KNP bird | Last bird in list
For in-depth birding information please refer to these authoritative avian references ...
Robert's 7th edition number ... 841
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