MyKrugerHoliday
Photo: Charles J. Sharp · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source ↗
Common Waxbill
Rooibeksysie · Estrilda astrild
A small, finely barred brown waxbill with a sealing-wax red bill and a bold red stripe through the eye. It lives in tight, sociable flocks that flit and bounce through long grass and reeds, feeding on grass seeds. The flocks keep in touch with soft twittering calls and explode into the air together when disturbed before settling nearby.
Log your Common Waxbill sighting — free →How to identify it
Greyish-brown and finely barred, with a bright red bill and a red stripe through the eye, and a reddish belly patch.
Listen for its call
Thin nasal "cher" and a sharp "ping" from the grass.
Where to see it in Kruger
Resident in rank grass and reeds near water and along roadsides, moving in tight, twittering little flocks.
Did you know
Flocks twist and turn through the grass together like one big living ribbon flowing in the wind.
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