About Lagonosticta senegala (Linnaeus, 1766)
The red-billed firefinch (Lagonosticta senegala) measures 10 cm (3.9 in) in total length. Adult males have entirely scarlet plumage, with the only exception being their brown wings; they have a pink bill and a yellow eye-ring. Females have uniformly brown upperparts and buff-colored underparts, a small red patch in front of each eye, and also have a pink bill. This is a widespread and abundant small gregarious bird species that is often found around human habitation, frequently associating with other species such as the red-cheeked cordon-bleu. Its soft queet-queet call is a well-known sound across Africa, and its song is a rising chick-pea-pea-pea. The red-billed firefinch feeds mainly on grain and other seeds, and frequents open grassland and cultivated areas. It builds a large domed grass nest with a side entrance, placed low in a bush, on a wall, or in thatch. Three to six white eggs are laid in this nest. The nests of the red-billed firefinch are parasitised by the village indigobird.
