Birdr
  • Today
  • Life List
  • Community
Sign in
  • Today
  • Life List
  • Map
  • Trip Planner
  • Community
  • Field Guide
  • Skills
  • Gear Guides
  • Merch
Sign in
Made for birdrs, by birdrs  ·  Birdr ·  v0.1
Field GuideBlogAboutGear GuidesTrip PlannerCommunityBirdr ProPrivacy PolicyTermsSupport
Back to Field Guide

Zebra Waxbill

Amandava subflava

Range & Recent Observations

Zebra Waxbillis a year-round resident and doesn't follow a migration flyway. See the Range tab for where it lives.

Last Spotted Near You

View on eBirdWikipedia

About the Zebra Waxbill

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.

Source: Wikipedia

Classification

Scientific name
Amandava subflava
Family
Waxbills and Allies
Order
Passeriformes

Similar species

Other members of the waxbills and allies family recorded in North America — a useful place to start if you are not certain of your identification.

  • African Firefinch Lagonosticta rubricata
  • African Silverbill Euodice cantans
  • Black-and-white Mannikin Spermestes bicolor
  • Black-rumped Waxbill Estrilda troglodytes
  • Blue-capped Cordonbleu Uraeginthus cyanocephalus
  • Bronze Mannikin Spermestes cucullata
  • Chestnut Munia Lonchura atricapilla
  • Common Waxbill Estrilda astrild
  • Crimson-rumped Waxbill Estrilda rhodopyga
  • Cut-throat Amadina fasciata
  • Diamond Firetail Stagonopleura guttata
  • Double-barred Finch Stizoptera bichenovii

Know when the Zebra Waxbill turns up near you

Add it to your watchlist and draw an alert zone around the places you actually bird. Birdr checks eBird reports and tells you when one is seen inside it.

How rare bird alerts work →

Gear for spotting Zebra Waxbill

Optics

Best Binoculars for Beginners

You don't need to spend a fortune. These four pairs will get you birding confidently on day one.

8 min readRead guide
Cameras

Cameras for Bird Photography

From phone adapters to dedicated rigs, here's what actually works for capturing birds in the field.

12 min readRead guide
Optics

Spotting Scopes for Distance Birding

Essential for shorebirds, raptors, and anything too far for binoculars. Our tested picks.

9 min readRead guide