Orange-breasted waxbill
Amandava subflava
Avilumen editorial team ·
The orange-breasted waxbill, also known as the zebra waxbill, is a small sparrow-like bird with a reddish iris, orange breast, red bill and dark olive-green plumage. The male has a red rump, dark bars on the whitish flank and a scarlet eyebrow stripe. The female is duller and smaller than male; it also lacks the male's red eyebrow.
The orange-breasted waxbill (Amandava subflava), also known as the zebra waxbill, is a small (approximately 9 cm long) sparrow-like bird with a reddish iris, orange breast, red bill and dark olive-green plumage. The male has a red rump, dark bars on the whitish flank and a scarlet eyebrow stripe. The female is duller and smaller than male; it also lacks the male's red eyebrow.
The orange-breasted waxbill is found in grassland and savannahs south of the Sahara in Africa. It has an estimated global extent of occurrence of 10,000,000 km2. This species is also introduced to other countries, e.g., Kuwait. Its diet consists mainly of seeds, insects and shoots. The female usually lays between four and six eggs in an oval-shaped nest made from grass. These nests are often the old nests of red-collared widowbirds.
Widespread and common throughout its large range, the orange-breasted waxbill is evaluated to be of least concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. It is listed on Appendix III of CITES in Ghana.
Text adapted from Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
Taxonomy
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Estrildidae
- Genus
- Amandava
- Conservation status
- Least concern
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Care guide
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Read the guide →Illustration gallery
6 illustrations of Amandava subflava (Orange-breasted waxbill) in different styles, true to its real plumage. Shown watermarked; the art pack includes the high-resolution originals, ready to print.
Watercolor 
Vintage plate 
Ink 
Oil 
Realistic 
Colored pencil
Illustrations based on the photograph by Johan Spaedtke aka Spade (Public domain), from Wikimedia Commons.
Digital editions
HD Digital Art Pack — Orange-breasted waxbill
Digital download: 6 high-resolution illustrations of the Orange-breasted waxbill (Amandava subflava), print-ready. This is a digital file; no animal or physical item is included.
AI Avatar — Orange-breasted waxbill
Generate an avatar fusing your face with the Orange-breasted waxbill (Amandava subflava). Delivered digitally in 8K, watermark-free. Digital product; no animals are sold or brokered.
Instant download. No live birds are sold.
Frequently asked questions
- Is Amandava subflava (Orange-breasted waxbill) endangered?
- The IUCN Red List places Amandava subflava, commonly known as the Orange-breasted waxbill, in the «Least concern» category. «Least concern» means it is not currently threatened.
- Where does Amandava subflava (Orange-breasted waxbill) live?
- Amandava subflava (Orange-breasted waxbill) is found in Africa.
- What family does Amandava subflava (Orange-breasted waxbill) belong to?
- Amandava subflava (Orange-breasted waxbill) belongs to the family Estrildidae, in the order Passeriformes.
- What colour is Amandava subflava (Orange-breasted waxbill)?
- The plumage of Amandava subflava (Orange-breasted waxbill) combines these colours: Orange and Green.
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