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Amandava

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Amandava
Male red avadavat (Amandava amandava)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Estrildidae
Genus: Amandava
Blyth, 1836
Type species
Amandava punctata = Fringilla amandava[1]
Blyth, 1836
Species

A. amandava
A. formosa
A. subflava

Amandava is a genus of the estrildid finches. These birds are found in dense grass or scrub in Africa and South Asia. They are gregarious seed-eaters with short, red bills. In earlier literature, amadavat and amidavad have been used.[2] The name amandava, along with amadavat and amidavad are all corruptions of Ahmedabad, a city in Gujarat, India from where the first few specimens of the red munia Amandava amandava were obtained.[3]

Taxonomy[edit]

The genus Amandava was introduced in 1836 by the English zoologist Edward Blyth for the red avadavat. The genus in mentioned in a footnote to a page of an edition of Gilbert White's The Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne that Blythe edited.[4] The name is derived by tautomony with the binomial name Fringilla amandava introduced for the red avadavat by Carl Linnaeus in 1758. The word amandava is a corruption of Ahmedabad, a city in the Indian state of Gujarat.[5] The genus Amandava is sister to the genus Amadiva containing two African finches.[6]

Species[edit]

The genus contains three species:[7]

Genus Amandava – Blyth, 1836 – three species
Common name Scientific name and subspecies Range Size and ecology IUCN status and estimated population
Red avadavat or red munia


Male
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Female

Amandava amandava
(Linnaeus, 1758)

Three subspecies
  • A. a. amandava (Linnaeus, 1758) – Pakistan, India, Nepal and Bangladesh
  • A. a. flavidiventris (Wallace, 1864) – Myanmar, south China, northwest, central Thailand and the Lesser Sundas
  • A. a. punicea (Horsfield, 1821)
Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan Size:

Habitat:

Diet: 		 LC 


Green avadavat or green munia

Amandava formosa
(Latham, 1790) 		central India, around southern Rajasthan, specifically around Oriya village, central Uttar Pradesh, southern Bihar and West Bengal
Map of range 		Size:

Habitat:

Diet: 		 VU 


Orange-breasted waxbill or zebra waxbill

Amandava subflava
(Vieillot, 1819) 		south of the Sahara in Africa Size:

Habitat:

Diet: 		 LC 




The two avadavats, which are very closely related, are found in tropical South Asia, and the waxbill in Africa. Various members of this genus are sometimes placed in Sporaeginthus.

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Estrildidae". aviansystematics.org. The Trust for Avian Systematics. Retrieved 2023-07-16.
  2. ^ Newton, A. & H. Gadow. 1896. A dictionary of birds. Black.London. p.11
  3. ^ a b Pittie, Aasheesh (2004). "A dictionary of scientific bird names originating from the Indian region". Buceros. 9 (2): 1–30.
  4. ^ White, Gilbert (1836). Blyth, Edward (ed.). The Natural History of Selborne, with its Antiquites; Naturalist's Calendar, &c. London: Orr and Smith. p. 44, Footnote.
  5. ^ Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 43. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
  6. ^ Olsson, Urban; Alström, Per (2020). "A comprehensive phylogeny and taxonomic evaluation of the waxbills (Aves: Estrildidae)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 146: 106757. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2020.106757. PMID 32028027.
  7. ^ 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 14 July 2021.

External links[edit]

  • Media related to Amandava at Wikimedia Commons
  • Data related to Amandava at Wikispecies
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