Waxbills | Estrildidae

Prachtvinken | Estrildidos

Small to very small seed-eaters with a short, thick conical bill — bright coral red in many species, silver-grey or blue-black in others — a compact body and short, rounded wings. They live in parties the year round and take their food from the seed head itself, clambering, hanging or riding the stem down under their own weight, and from the ground beneath. The nest is a closed ball of interwoven grass with an entrance at the side, often drawn out into a short tube, set low in a tussock, a thorn bush or dense reed; both parents build and take turns to incubate. The nestlings carry a fixed pattern of black spots and lines at the back of the gaping bill, with coloured papillae at the gape that light up in the dark of the nest and point the parents to the food. That food is seed brought up softened in the crop and given out one chick at a time.