Coccopygia Explained

Coccopygia, is a genus of small seed-eating birds in the family Estrildidae. They are distributed across central and southern Africa.

Taxonomy

The genus Coccopygia was introduced in 1862 by the German naturalist Ludwig Reichenbach.^[1] The name combines the Ancient Greek kokkos meaning "scarlet" with -pugios meaning "-rumped".^[2] The type species was designated as the swee waxbill by Richard Bowdler Sharpe in 1890.^{[3] [4]} The genus Coccopygia is sister to the olivebacks in the genus Nesocharis.^[5]

Species

The genus contains three species:^[6]

Image	Scientific name	Common Name	Distribution
	Coccopygia quartinia	Yellow-bellied waxbill	East Africa
	Coccopygia melanotis	Swee waxbill	Southern Africa
	Coccopygia bocagei	Angola waxbill	Angola

Notes and References

1. Book: Reichenbach, Ludwig . Ludwig Reichenbach . 1862 . Die Singvögel als Fortsetzung de vollständigsten Naturgeschichte und zugleich als Central-Atlas für zoologische Gärten und für Thierfreunde. Ein durch zahlreiche illuminirte Abbildungen illustrirtes Handbuch zur richtigten Bestimmung und Pflege der Thiere aller Classen. Expedition Vollständigsten Naturgeschichte . German . Dresden and Leipzig . 23 .
2. Book: Jobling, James A. . 2010. The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names . Christopher Helm . London . 978-1-4081-2501-4 . 112 .
3. Book: Sharpe . R. Bowdler . Richard Bowdler Sharpe . 1890 . Catalogue of the Passeriformes or Perching Birds in the Collection of the British Museum. Sturnformes . 13 . Trustees of the British Museum . London . 305 . Catalogue of the Birds in the British Museum .
4. Book: Paynter . Raymond A. Jr . 1968 . Check-List of Birds of the World . 14 . Museum of Comparative Zoology . Cambridge, Massachusetts . 336 .
5. Olsson . Urban . Alström . Per . Alström . 2020 . A comprehensive phylogeny and taxonomic evaluation of the waxbills (Aves: Estrildidae) . Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution . 146 . 106757 . 10.1016/j.ympev.2020.106757. 32028027 . free .
6. Web site: Gill . Frank . Frank Gill (ornithologist) . Donsker . David . Rasmussen . Pamela . Pamela Rasmussen . July 2021 . Waxbills, parrotfinches, munias, whydahs, Olive Warbler, accentors, pipits . IOC World Bird List Version 11.2 . International Ornithologists' Union . 12 July 2021 .