About Uraeginthus ianthinogaster Reichenow, 1879
This species, scientifically named Uraeginthus ianthinogaster Reichenow, 1879, has an average length of 13.3 cm (5.2 in). Individuals of all ages and sexes have a black tail, and adult individuals have a red bill. Males have a cinnamon-colored head and neck, with a blue patch surrounding the eye. The rump is purplish blue, and the underparts are violet-blue with variable rufous patches. Females are smaller, mostly cinnamon brown, with white barring on the underparts and silver-blue eyepatches. Juveniles resemble females, but are mostly unbarred tawny-brown and have a reddish-brown bill. The song of individuals recorded in Kenya is described as "a high, thin chit-cheet tsereea-ee-ee tsit-tsit, or cheerer cheet tsee-tsee sur-chit." This species occurs in subtropical and tropical lowland dry shrubland across Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda. It has an estimated global extent of occurrence of 1,500,000 km² (580,000 sq mi), and its conservation status is evaluated as Least Concern.
