Not everyone in the world knows about this very great bird called Waxbill, I found out about it during my study of birds and I found out that this bird though exist in many parts of the world but there is one which seems to be different among them. The bird is different among its family from colours and other features it possesses. The waxbills are little bird which belongs to the family of estrildid finch.
Scientific Classification of the waxbill
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Estrildidae
Genus: Estrilda
Species: Estrilda astrild
The waxbills are small bird of about of about 12cm in its length with a wing which spans of about 4.5 inches and its weight is about 10g. The waxbill has a willowy body with a long graduated tail and a smooth-edged wings. The bird have varieties of twittering and buzzing calls which sounds like “tzzzt” and a distinctive high pitched flight call.
Native Range
There are about 17 species of waxbills which scattered across of Africa south of the Sahara. They are existing in most parts of the East, Central and southern Africa excluding regions of desert or condensed forest because they do not like dense area because of their nature. In West Africa they are more indigenous with the main population centered on Sierra Leone, Liberia, and the Ivory Coast. The waxbill dwell in open country with long grass and graded vegetation. They are habitually found nearby water and amid reeds. They can be controlled to enter gardens, parks, and farmlands.
Reproduction
The waxbill normally build its nest in a low down amongst dense vegetation while a second nest can be built at the top which is referred to as the “cock nest” because that is the place the male waxbill sleeps. The nest is like a large ball of criss cross grass stem which has a long downward entrance tube on one side.
Both the male and the female waxbill shares the duty of incubating the eggs for about 11 to 13 days and also they share the duty of raising the chicks together. The young waxbills fly away from their parents when they are about 17 to 21 days old to start their own new life in another place far away from their parents
Feeding
The waxbills feeds on insects, especially during their breeding season when they have high demand of protein in their intake. They also love feeding on grass seeds. They usually feed by clinging to the stem with their claws and pick from the flowers heads but they will also search for seeds that falls on the ground because they need to drink frequently as the seed will contain a little content of water.
Difference between Anambra Waxbill and Other Waxbills
One of the species of waxbill is the Anambra waxbill (Estrilda poliopareia) which is situated at the southern region of Nigeria. It is usually found in long grass along rivers, lagoons sandbanks, marshes, swamps and forests. It feeds principally on grass seeds taken from seedheads. The Anambra waxbill is found different from other waxbills because of the followings
The anambra waxbill specie is found only in Southern Nigeria and nowhere else in the world
The anambra waxbill unlike other waxbills has a pale eyes
It is a small bird of various attractive colors
It also have a fine barring at the upper part, sides of breast
There is possibility of its extinction from the waxbills species
REFERENCE
Bird life international(2013). “Estrilda poliopareia” IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.2. International Union for Conservation of Nature.
Heinrich L. Bregulla (1992) Birds of Vanuatu, Anthony Nelson, Oswestry, England
Tony Clarke , Chris Orgil and Tony Dudely(2006) Field Guide to the birds of the Atlantic islands, Christopher Helm, London
Peter Clement, Alan Harris and John Davied (1993)Finches and sparrows: An identification guide, Christopher Helm, London
Wikipedia 
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