Common Waxbill - Estrilda Astrild

Description
Size: 4.25-5 inches.
Adult: finely barred, except for pale face, brigh red eye-stripe, wax-red bill and small pinkish patch on lower breast and belly.
Juvenille: very faintly barred (looks, plain), pale red through eye; black bill, pale buff-brown underparts.
Call: commonest call is a sharp, abrupt 'pit' or 'tchick', often repeated when alarmed or excited, also a soft 'chip' and a nasal 'cher-cher-cher'.
Song: is a low, harsh rising 'tcher-tcher-preeee', 'cher-cher-cher', occasionally followed by a 'dit' note or a descending 'chewi-chee'

Black Bellied Firefinch - Lagonosticta rara

Description
Size: 4 inches
Male: dull crimson except for brighter rump and uppertail-coverts; centre of lower breast to lower flanks and undertail-coverts black.
Female: gray head and face; bright red spot on lores, pale buff throat, pinkish underparts, blackish from lower belly to undertail.
Call: a repeated sharp 'chek' or 'tseeay', also a soft nasal 'keeyh' or 'squeer'.
Song: a variable jumble of low-pitched phrases and a Greenfinch like trilling ending with a whistling 'tyee tyee tyee' or 'tew tew tew'.

Black Faced Firefinch - Lagonosticta larvarta

Description
Size: 4.5 inches
Male nigricollis: Dark grey upperparts, except bright crimson rump and uppertail-coverts; pale lavender underparts, small white spots on sides of lower breast.
Female nigricollis: similar to nominate female, but slightly paler brown or gray-brown upperparts with pale or buff-brown underparts.
Call: a weak lipsing note.
Song: is very similar to that of African Firefinch.

Red Billed Firefinch - Lagonosticta senegala

Description

Size: 4 inches
Male: bright pink bill, pale yellow eye-ring, tiny white spots on sides of breast.

Female: pale pink bill and red spot on lores, white spots on side of breast and flanks.

Call: a soft but thin or high-pitched 'dwee', 'uee', or 'tweet', often repeated as a double note. The alarm is a low pitched and abrupt 'tzet', 'chuck', or 'clook', often repeated rapidly.

Song: is a series of soft, rising, twittering whistling notes which include the 'tset' call at the start.

African Firefinch - Lagonosticta rubricata

Description
Size: 4-4.5 inches
Male: Reddish from crown to nape; belly to undertail-coverts black, blue-gray base to bil.
Female: paler than male; buff-brown from belly to undertail coverts.
Call: is a rising trilling twitter, loosely interpreted as 'trrrrrr-t' or a simple 'trrrrrr', and a loud ringing 'chew-chew-chew-chew' or 'chwee chwee chwee' occasionally 'chub chub chub chub' or 'feeeu feeeu', all of which may be followed by a 'wink wink wink'.
Song: given by both sexes, consists of various ringing notes repeated in a random sequence, interspersed with squaeky whistles, trills and warbles.

Western Bluebill - Spermophaga haematina

Description
Size: 6 inches
Male bill blue with red tip; red from chin to breast and flanks, broke pale whitish-blue eye ring.
Female: bill as male but less red at tip; face black, washed red or maroon.
Call: is a fairly sharp (or can be soft to almost inaudible) 'tip', 'tsik', 'tsip', or even a more drawn-out 'tsee'; has a strong Sylvia warble-like 'tack', often repeated in alarm.
Song: is a low clucking series of 'tack' notes rising into a trill before dying away.

Crimson Seedcracker - Pyrenestes sanguineus

Description
Size: 5 - 5.5 inches.
Male: massive bill; rounded or domed glossy red head, red breast, and flanks
Female: red on nape and lower breast duller than male.
Juvenile: no red on brown head and breast
Call: is a sharp 'zeet'.
Song: is a short, pleasant warble.

Ethiopian Crimsonwing - Cryptospiza salvadorii

Description
Size: 4.5 inches.
Male: similar to male Red Faced Crimsonwing, but lacks red face patch and red on secondaries.
Female: similar to female Red Faced Crimsonwing, but lacks pale buff face patch and body is grayish-olive.
Call: is a soft 'teep' or variation thereof, 'tseep-tseep' and 'chip chip'.
Song: is a repetition of the call, but also has a rarely heard soft and melodic 'dee-goo-goo-day-dee'

Red Faced Crimson Wing - Cryptospiza reichenovii

Description
Size: 4.25-4.75 inches.
Male: red face patch and red on lower flanks.
Female: yellowish-buff face patch; dark olive-green feather bases to mantle and back show through.
Juvenile: duller olive or browner than adult; reddish tinge to flanks, back and edges to wing-coverts and tertials.
Call: generally silent, but has a sharp or high pitched 'chirp' or 'tzeet' and a loose collection of similar notes.
Song: is soft inaudible beyond 3-4 meter and variable consisting mostly of long drawn out notes on a descending sclae followed by a chirp.

Dybowski's Dusky Twinspot - Euschistospiza dybowskii

Description
Size: 4.75 inches.
Male: crimson from mantle to uppertail-coverts, white spots on black flanks
Female: duller than male; crimson upperparts broken by brown feather bases showing through, wings browner than male, generally more spotted on flanks.
Juvenile: slate-gray body, dull reddish-brown upperparts unspotted.
Call: a soft and quickly repeated 'tset' or 'tsit-tsit', also used as an alarm note but much louder, becoming 'tsit-tsit-tsit'.
Song consists of a variety of trills and phrases suggestive of a Canary variety, deep bubbling notes of a Nightingale and flute-like phrases of a Black bird.

Peter's Twinspot - Hypargos niveoguttatus

Description:
Size: 4.75-5 inches
Male: bright red from face to breast; rump to tail bright red, underparts (except vent and undertail-coverts) spotted with white.
Female: yellowish-buff from face to breast; rump to tail red.
Juvenile: warm brown or russet-brown underparts; blackish from belly to undertail-coverts.
Call: generally silent, but give a quiet hissing note; also 'tseet' is used as contact call, as is a longer more drawn-out and louder, cricket-like trill 'trree-rree'.
Song: is a feeble and suttering trill and continues with short whistling or clucking notes.

Green Backed Twinspot - Mandingoa nitidula

Description
Size: 4-4.25"
Male: bright red from bill to eye; orange chin, bright olive-green breast and upperparts.
Female: pale yellow from bill to eye; greenish-olive throat and breast.
Juvenile: pale buff from bill to eye; gray-green upperparts, green wings and tail.
Call: is a chirping or squeaky 'tzeeet' or 'tseeeht', also various other short 'tak' or 'tek' notes. Alarm call: 'tsit-tsit' nte, occasionally followed by 'terr'.
Song: is a subdued series of trill intespersed with whistling and call notes.

Green-Winged Pytila - Pytilia Melba

Description
Size: 4.75-5 inches
Male: grayish lores, uniform olive-green mantle, back and wings; breast green, underparts heavily barred or spotted.
Female: gray head, dull green mantle, back and wings; underparts barred dark gray and white.
Call: is a thin 'see-eh', also a low 'wick' or 'wit' note.
Song: is an attractive series of quiet trills with accasional whistles, 'trreeeeee chrroooooo'.

Orange-Winged Pytilia - Pytilia afra

Description
Size: 4.25-4.5 inches
Male: bright orange in wing, red face, and dull olive-yellow underparts barred whitish.
Female: head and face gray, yellowish-orange in wing, underparts more broadly barred, white belly.
Call: is a single flat 'see'.
Song: is a piping two or three notes rattling whistle, often repeated in quick succession.

Red/Crimson-Winged Pytilia - Pytilia Phoenicoptera

Description
Size: 5 inches
Male: black bill; crimwon wing, rump and tail.
Female: similar to male but paler underparts
Call: is an occasional chirp.
Song: is variable, is a repeated series of rattling notes followed by a croaky wishtle.

Gray-Headed Olive Back - Nesocharis capistrata

Description
Size: 5.5 inches
Adult: gray head, white face, black from chin to sides of neck; olive back and wings, bright yellow flanks.
Juvenille: dark gray head and face, dull buff-brown flanks.
Call: generally silent.
Song: a pleasant song, a soft descending 'chwee chweee chweee-chwi'

Black Siskin - Carduelis Atrata

Description
Size: 4.75-5 inches
Male: very obvious black and yellow; pale or abraded tips to secondaries and tertials in worn plumage.
Female: as male but sooty - or blackish-brown; some birds show yellowish thip to median coverts.
Call: is a decending 'p'seew', a melancholy 'hear-r', a rolling 'hew-lili', and a low chatter.
Song: apparantly similar to that of Yellow-rumped siskin.

Hooded Siskin - Carduelis Magellanica

Description
Size: 4.25-4.5 inches
Male: black from head to upper breast; thin yellow collar and yellow underparts, wingbars, rump and sides to base of tail.
Female: dull olive with dull yellow wingbars, brighter on rump and sides to base of tail; greenish-yellow breast and flanks; belly and undertail-coverts whitish.
Call: is a ling triling 'trrrrr' or a repeated 'djey djey'.
Song: is a variey of short twittering 'tseet-tseet', 'tseet-weet' pr 'tseet-weet-aweeta' notes with frequently repeated phrases.

Siberian Goldfinch - Carduelis Carduelis Major

Description:
Size: 6-6.5 inches
Male: very distinctive, red on face extends slightly behind eye
Female: as male, but red on face extends only to eye.
Call: is a shrill or ringing 'pee-uu' or 'tsee-yu', occasionally followed by a twittering note in flight; alarm call is a harsh or grating 'zeez' or 'eeez'.
Song: is a pleasant and very characteristic rapid tinkling 'tswit-witt-witt' repeated with various twittering, buzzing 'zee-zee' notes added, creating a fast and liquid canary-like song.

Greenfinch - Carduelis chloris

Description:
Size: 5-6.25"
Adult male: extensive yellow edges to primaries; greater coverts and edges to secondaries and teritials gray; yellow sides to base of tail.
Adult female: duller than male; gray-brown upperparts and yellow at sides of base of tail.
Call: is a harsh twittering 'twichit' or 'twichichichit', occasionally given as an individual 'chit' 'chip' or 'teu teu' or variations, and a sharp, rising 'swee-it' or 'tsooeet' is the alarm call.
Song: is a repeated collection of phrases incorporating the call notes, usually beginning with dry nasal trill and continuing with a slowly rising 'teu teu teu teu', interspersed with a 'tswee' or 'zeee' note.

Eurasia Linnet - Carduelis Cannabina

Description:
Size: 5.25"
Adult male: gray head, warm brown mantle and back, crimson forehad and breast patch; white flash in open wing.
Adult female: duller brown than male, with darker streaks; pale face and underparts streaked dark brown.
Call: rapid, trilling, 'chi chi chi chit', also gives a very soft or subdued 'too tee' or 'too hwee' during breeding season, a sharp 'tsooeet' is given as an alrm or anxiety call.
Song: is a soft and varied musical warble interspersed with twitters and trills.

Yellow-Rumped Seedeater - Serinus Atrogularis

Description:
Size: 4.25"
Sexes alike
Adult: small and gray-brown; distinctive bright yellow rump, thin pale supercilium, pale buff double wingbars and light buff-brown underparts.
Juvenile: similar to adult but warmer buff-brown; chin and throat withish with dark spots, becoming streaks on breast.
Contact call: is a rising 'tswee' or 'tsuii'; in flight gives a double chirrup note.
Song: Canary-like song, sustained and rambling with repeated phrases, often delivered from a tree top, and is one of the most persistent songsters of Southern Africa.

White Rumped Seedeater - Serinus Leucopygius

Description:
Size: 4-4.5 inches
Sexes alike
Adult: pale gray-brown except for white rump and thing wingbar.
Juvenile: similar to adult or slightly warmer brown, has more streaks or spots on underparts.
Call: call is underscribed
Song: is rather subdued but clear, sweet and Canary-like quality

African Citril - Serinus Citrinelloides

Description:
Size: 4.75 inches
Male: black forehead, cheeks, lores and chin; pale yellow thin double wingbar, thin yellow supercilium.
Female: duller than male; dull olive face, short and thin supercilium, more heavily streaked above and below.
Call: is a soft clicking 'cheep', alarm call a soft 't, t, tee', and there is also a subdued twittering note, often given in flight.
Song is loud and Canary-like or Linnet-like, but sweeter in tone, with a clean piping wishtle of three or four notes, 'tweet-ti-tu'.

Brimstone Canary - Serinus Sulphuratus

Description:
Size: 6-6.5 inches
Male: face pattern similar to yellow canary but cheek patch more diffuse; largver, with bigger bil, bright yellow wingbars, greenish rump and dull greenish yellow underparts.
Female: similar to male but duller, with poorly defined face pattern, duller wingbars and pale supercilium.
Call: varies with locality, a harsh or throaty 'chirrup' or 'chee-u-wee'.
Song: is often delivered from a prominent perc and is a sweet and varied in tone.

White Bellied Canary - Serinus Dorsostriatus

Description:

Size: 4.25-5 inches

Adult male: face pattern only lightly define, white lower belly and flanks diagnostic.

Adult female: similar to male, but with greenish-olive face and streaks on sides of breast and flanks.

Call is a shrill 'whee' or 'suweee'.

Song is a sweet series of Goldfinch-like notes or trills, interspersed with some harsher phrases, and quite loud.

Yellow Fronted Canary - Serinus Mozambicus

Description: Size 4.25-5 inches
Adult Male: distinctive head and face pattern, bright yellow underparts and rump; tail can appear notched or slightly forked at rest.
Adult Female: upperparts greyer than male, rump yellow, head pattern less well defined
Juvenile: similar to adult female, but pale yellow face and breast, dull greenish-yellow rump and spots or streaks on sides of breast.
Call is a single or double 'tsssp' note, 'tseeuu', 'swee-et' or 'zeee-zeree-chereeo'.
Song is lively and rather canary-like but repetitive, and often delivered in short burts.

Yellow Crowned Canary-Serinus Canicollis

Location: East Africa to eastern South Africa.
Description:

• Size: 5.25 inches


• Adult male breeding: crown to mantle grey, yellowish-green rump, face and breast, yellow edges to base of tail.


• Adult female: duller than male, with grey on chin and breast, distinctly streaked on upperparts, more lightly on flanks.


• Juvenile: pale buffish-brown with dark streaks; yellowish wash to underparts, broad pale buff-brown wingbars, and yellowish edges to flight feathers.


• Call is 'sweet' and a staccato chatter, alarm call a repeated 'tweee', 'pee-eee' or 'twoo-ee' or 'skleree'; gives a twiterring note in flight.


• Song is a loud, prolonged and musical series of Goldfinch-like trills, and warbles, said to resemble Skylark in tone.

European Serin-Serinus Serinus

Location: Europe and the Mediterranean to North Africa, Estonia and Southwest Russia (Ukraine).
Descriptions:

• Size 4.25 inches
• Adult male: small, stubby bill, yellow head and dark-streaked breast, pale yellow wingbars, and bright yellow rump.
• Adult female: duler than male, with pale yellow around the face and dull yellow wingbars; underparts heavily streaked.
• Juvenile: similar to adult female but lacks yellow; rump light olive with dark streaks, wingbars warm buffish-brown.
• Call is a rapid or high-pitched twittering trill 'tirrillilit', or a shorter 'titteree', often of a tinny or metallic quality.
• Song is a jumbled or jangling mixture of notes recalling Corn Bunting in overall quality, though somewhat less harsh.
  

Red Fronted Serin - Serinus pusillus

Location: Turkey east through Central Asia, the Himalayan, Tibet and northwest China.
Descriptions:

• Size: 5 inches.
• Adult breeding plumage: bright red patch on forehead, sooty black head and breast; breast streaked black, rest of underpart yellowish. Sexes are alike.
• Juvenile: very streaky, with rust-brown or dull chestnut on face and forehead; pale yellowish-buff wingbars.
• Call: is a rather rapid ringing trill 'trilit-drillt'.
• Song: is very similar to the European Serin, but softer and more Goldfinch-like in quality, melodious rippling trills, interspersed with twittering notes, rather hurried, and many phrases repeated.