| Bird Name: | | | | the belly and chest. The show large black cheek |
| Black-cheeked Waxbill | | | | patches. The beak is mostly black with pearl gray |
| Latin Name: | | | | shade at the base and the feet are black. Males are |
| Estrilda erythronotos | | | | slightly broader than females and have black belly and |
| Status: | | | | vent feathers. The females' chest, lower belly, and |
| Least Concern | | | | vent are all mauve. |
| Scientific Classification: | | | | Diet: |
| Kingdom: Animalia | | | | The typical diet is seeds of grasses and flowers. |
| Phylum: Chordata | | | | Insects are eaten occasionally, especially during the |
| Class: Aves | | | | breeding season. They will feed by clinging to the |
| Order: Passeriformes | | | | stems of plants with their long spindly claws picking at |
| Family: Estrildidae | | | | flower heads. They will also forage for seeds on the |
| Genus: Estrilda | | | | ground. |
| Species: E. erythronotos | | | | Habitat: |
| General Information: | | | | The Black-cheeked Waxbill is a common finch found |
| The Black-cheeked Waxbill is a common species of | | | | throughout southern Africa in Angola, Botswana, |
| estrildid finch found in southern Africa. | | | | Kenya, Namibia, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, |
| Physical Description: | | | | Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. |
| The Black-cheeked waxbill averages 11 to 13 cm in | | | | Reproduction: |
| length and weighs 7 to 19 gm. The upperparts are a | | | | Nest is ball shaped, made of grasses. It is usually built in |
| smoky mauve color with the wings showing alternating | | | | a cavity amongst dense vegetation. Clutch consists of |
| bars of lighter and darker shading. The tail is black on | | | | 4 to 7 eggs, white in color. They are incubated for 11 to |
| top and grayish on the underside. The rump is a | | | | 13 days and the young will fledge after 17 to 21 days. |
| subdued red and this coloring extends just slightly on | | | | |