Uraeginthus

Uraeginthus
Red-cheeked cordon-bleu (Uraeginthus bengalus)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Estrildidae
Genus:	Uraeginthus Cabanis, 1851
Type species
Fringilla bengalus[1] Linnaeus, 1766

Uraeginthus is a genus of small seed-eating birds in the family Estrildidae that are found in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The genus was introduced by the German ornithologist Jean Cabanis in 1851.^[2] The type species was subsequently designated as the red-cheeked cordon-bleu.^[3] The name Uraeginthus combines the Ancient Greek words oura "tail" and aiginthos for an unknown bird, perhaps a finch.^[4]

Species

It contains the following three species:^[5]

Genus Uraeginthus – Cabanis, 1851 – three species

Common name	Scientific name and subspecies	Range	Size and ecology	IUCN status and estimated population
Blue waxbill Male Female	Uraeginthus angolensis (Linnaeus, 1758) Three subspecies U. a. angolensis (Linnaeus, 1758) U. a. cyanopleurus Wolters, 1963 U. a. niassensis Reichenow, 1911	Cabinda and the Congo to Kenya and Tanzania in the east south to northern South Africa	Size: Habitat: Diet:	LC
Red-cheeked cordon-bleu Male Female	Uraeginthus bengalus (Linnaeus, 1766) Four subspecies U. b. bengalus (Linnaeus, 1766) U. b. brunneigularis Mearns, 1911 U. b. ugogensis Reichenow, 1911 U. b. katangae Vincent, 1934	Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Angola, south Democratic Republic of the Congo and north Zambia	Size: Habitat: Diet:	LC
Blue-capped cordon-bleu	Uraeginthus cyanocephalus (Richmond, 1897)	Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, and Tanzania in East Africa	Size: Habitat: Diet:	LC

References

1. "Estrildidae". aviansystematics.org. The Trust for Avian Systematics. Retrieved 2023-07-16.
2. Cabanis, Jean; Heine, Ferdinand (1851). Museum Heineanum : Verzeichniss der ornithologischen Sammlung des Oberamtmann Ferdinand Heine, auf Gut St. Burchard vor Halberstadt (in German and Latin). Vol. 1. Halberstadt: R. Frantz. p. 171.
3. Paynter, Raymond A. Jr, ed. (1968). Check-list of birds of the world. Vol. 14. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. pp. 331–332.
4. Jobling, J.A. (2018). del Hoyo, J.; Elliott, A.; Sargatal, J.; Christie, D.A.; de Juana, E. (eds.). "Key to Scientific Names in Ornithology". Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions. Retrieved 4 May 2018.
5. Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (July 2021). "Waxbills, parrotfinches, munias, whydahs, Olive Warbler, accentors, pipits". IOC World Bird List Version 11.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 13 July 2021.