African Silverbill

Appearance

The African Silverbill is approximately 10 cm in length with a long black pointed tail. The adult has a stubby silver-blue bill, finely vermiculated light-brown upper parts, whitish underparts, black rump and black wings. The sexes are similar, but immatures lack the vermiculations. This species has a "tseep" call and a trilling song. The contact call of the male is a single "tseep" while the female is a double noted "tsiptsip". Birds in flight keep up a constant "tseep tseep tseep".

The subspecies "L. c. orientalis" is darker on the face and upperparts than the other subspecies.

Naming

* "L. c. cantans" occurs in west and central Africa
⤷  "L. c. inornata" occurs in extreme north-eastern Africa and the Arabian Peninsula
⤷  "L. c. orientalis" occurs in east Africa

Distribution

The species is widespread in savanna country, arid landscape with thorn bush, and grasslands with acacias or dry grassland. It may also be found in cultivated areas and dry grassland. It is by nature a bird of dry country. It is primarily a lowland species but can be found up to 2,000 m altitude.

Behavior

The African Silverbill is tame and sociable, often found perching in trees in dense flocks, touching one another. However it is a particularly inactive bird, sitting huddled together for a long period of time. It stays in flocks all year round and usually breeds in loose colony.

Habitat

The species is widespread in savanna country, arid landscape with thorn bush, and grasslands with acacias or dry grassland. It may also be found in cultivated areas and dry grassland. It is by nature a bird of dry country. It is primarily a lowland species but can be found up to 2,000 m altitude.

Reproduction

The nest of the African Silverbill is usually built in the form of a roundish bundle of grasses. It is lined with soft fibres and sometimes feathers, and may be placed in a thick bush or hedge or amongst the creepers on a house. The male is recorded in the wild as collecting all the nesting material, while the female only shares in construction.

The clutch varies from three to six oval, smooth white eggs. The female incubates during the day, and though the male may relieve her when she leaves the nest to feed. It has been suggested that the male does not actually brood. They are both at nest at night. The incubation period is about eleven to thirteen days average, and the young fledging in about twenty-one days and becoming independent within a month of fledging.

Newly hatched young are dark and have waxy looking yellow gape swellings. The plate has a single heavy black circle, inside the white month flange which embraces the upper and lower parts of the gape.

Food

The African Silverbill feeds mostly on grass seeds, picked from the ground but also taken from the growing plants if available. It will cling to grass stems to take seeds from the inflorescences. It seems that it feeds mainly on vegetable matter and rearing its young on seed as well. However, it has been recorded to take aphids from water mint.

Predators

The African Silverbill is currently trapped for the cage bird trade. However its numbers and its considerable range mean that this is unlikely to have any impact on the species' survival.