Munias, Parrotfinches, Waxbills, and Allies
Common Waxbill
Estrilda astrild
LCLeast Concern
- Family
- Munias, Parrotfinches, Waxbills, and Allies (Estrildidae)
- Order
- Passeriformes
Overview
The common waxbill (Estrilda astrild), also known as the St Helena waxbill, is a small passerine bird belonging to the estrildid finch family. It is native to sub-Saharan Africa but has been introduced to many other regions of the world and now has an estimated global extent of occurrence of 10,000,000 km2. It is popular and easy to keep in captivity.
Summary from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Range and habitat
Countries
- Angola
- Botswana
- Burundi
- Cameroon
- Central African Republic
- Côte d'Ivoire
- DR Congo
- Equatorial Guinea
- Eswatini
- Ethiopia
- Gabon
- Ghana
- Guinea
- Kenya
- Lesotho
- Liberia
- Malawi
- Mali
- Mozambique
- Namibia
- Nigeria
- Republic of the Congo
- Rwanda
- Sao Tome and Principe
- Sierra Leone
- Singapore
- Somalia
- South Africa
- South Sudan
- Spain
- Tanzania
- Togo
- Uganda
- Zambia
- Zimbabwe
Sources and further reading
- Wikipedia: Common waxbill
- eBird: sightings, maps and photos
- xeno-canto: sound recordings
- Birds of the World: full species account (subscription)
- BirdLife DataZone: status and threats
- IUCN Red List (threat status)
- AviList global checklist (taxonomy)
Last updated September 29, 2026.
