African Quailfinch ( Ortygospiza atricollis, family: Estrildidae)

Birds & Birding in the Kruger National Park South Africa. In Roberts 6 this bird was called Quail Finch

african qualifinch kruger national park birds The African Quailfinch (Latin name Ortygospiza atricollis) is described in Roberts Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition. This bird has a unique Roberts number of 852 and you will find a full description of this bird on page 1040 also a picture of the African Quailfinch on page 1056. The African Quailfinch belongs to the family of birds classified as Estrildidae. According to the Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology the African Quailfinch is also known by these other names: Common Quailfinch, Black-chinned Quailfinch.

In the previous edition of Roberts (ie 6th edition) the African Quailfinch was called the Quail Finch

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 African Quailfinch is neither Endemic or near Endemic to the Kruger National Park.

In terms of distribution of the African Quailfinch in the Kruger National Park you may not see it in all areas. African Quailfinch : see above distribution map.

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 African Quailfinch is an extremely small bird about half the size of a house sparrow. The height of the African Quailfinch is about 10 cms and its weight is about 11 gms

You will find that the male African Quailfinch plumage and colours are different to that of the female African Quailfinch

  • Head is brown.
  • Eye is orange.
  • Bill is red.
  • Throat is white, black.
  • Back is brown.
  • Legs are pink.

This bird has normally proportioned leg length.

Main diet items for this bird ...

The African Quailfinch feeds on the ground, and on the wing mainly

Invertebrates

Seeds

Breeding and nesting habits for this bird ...

The African Quailfinch is monogamous unless its mate dies. In the event of a partner dying Ortygospiza atricollis will seek out a new mate

The nesting habit of African Quailfinch is to create the nest on the ground. The bird lays eggs which are white in colour and number between 3 to 6

Habitat and flocking behaviour for this bird ...

The preferred habitats for African Quailfinch are: woodlands and arid areas including grasslands

You will normally see the African Quailfinch in flocks.

Names of this avian species in other languages ...

Xhosa ... Unonkxwe

Zulu ... iNxenge/uNonklwe

Afrikaans ...Gewone Kwartelvinkie

German ... Wachtelastrild

Portuguese ... Bico-de-lacre-codorniz

French ... Astrild-caille lunettes

Dutch ... Kwartelastrild

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 ... 852

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