African Silver Beak (Silver Beak)

Euodice cantans

 (Source of the Info -> ebirds.org and Wikiwand)

A small, slender finch found in savanna, grasslands, fields, and thorn scrub. Cream-colored below and brown above with darker wings, a long, dark tail, and a thick silvery-gray bill. The tail is longer and more pointed than in other small finches. Often seen in flocks in semiarid savanna and plains, agricultural areas, and marshes. Male call is a metallic “tink” or “tsip”; female’s is a double note. Song is a peaking series of notes ending in a trill. Native to Africa; introduced to the Hawaiian Islands.

The African silver beak (Euodice cantans, Syn .: Lonchura cantans), sometimes also referred to as the silver beak or silver facet, is a species of bird from the finch family. Several subspecies are distinguished.

Since the species becomes very trusting, it is kept relatively often as an ornamental bird in Europe.

The epithet cantans (from Latin cantáre = to sing) indicates the purring song of the male.

The African silver beak reaches a body size of 11 centimeters and is one of the medium-sized species of finch. They weigh an average of twelve grams and there is no pronounced sexual dimorphism. Both sexes are very similar to the Indian silver beak, which is widespread in Asia, but the basic color of the plumage is more yellow-brown.

The head, throat and neck are light russet. The forehead and the top of the head appear slightly scaled because the feathers are brightly lined here. The sides of the head and throat are yellow-brownish. The back and wing covers are dark brown, while the wings, rump and tail feathers are black. The belly, flanks and under tail-coverts are very variable in color and vary from yellow to beige to pure white. The beak is very strong and silver in color. The eyes are very dark and surrounded by silver-blue eyelid rings. The feet and legs are light gray-blue.

Young birds are almost monochrome light brown on the upper side of the body. You are still missing the transverse curl and the speckle on the top of the head. The rump is more brownish than in adult birds. The outer tail feathers have whitish tips on the outer flags.

Source: Wikiwand

The distribution area of ​​the African silver beak runs in a wide belt from West to East Africa. It is also found in the southwest of the Arabian Peninsula. The species was naturalized in Puerto Rico and Hawaii.

Its habitat are dry savannahs, light acacia forests and thorn bushes, near which there are water points. The African silver beak has also opened up human settlement space and is found in fields, pastures and in parks and gardens. During the breeding season, the African silver beak lives in pairs. Otherwise it can often be seen in large schools. Typical for this species is sitting in contact and social plumage care. The contact-seeking animals always fly at a distance of about fifteen centimeters to the contact partner, tripping to the side in a high posture and with their beak turned towards the partner. The bird that is already seated does not leave its seat, but only straightens up. When the incoming bird approaches, a beak fight occurs between the two birds, during which the birds move closer together. Only when the upright posture is given up does the beak fight change into mutual feathering.

The diet consists of small seeds, with grass seeds playing a particularly large role. The food is picked up from the ground, but is also picked from pulled down fruit stands. The singing is a softly purring and pearling verse, which is preferably performed by a branch in the top of a bush or tree.

The species prefers to breed from the second half of the rainy season, so that the breeding business can drag on well into the dry season. African silver beaks build ball nests that are built in thorn bushes and trees. In settlements, the nests are often found under roofs, on huts or verandas. However, abandoned nests of weaver birds are also very often used. The clutch comprises four to six eggs. The breeding season is twelve days. The nestling period is 20 to 22 days. The young birds are looked after by the parent birds for around two more weeks.

The African silver beak was introduced to Europe at the end of the 18th century. It is kept relatively frequently and is one of the most tolerable and enduring species of finch.