Green-winged pytilia explained

The green-winged pytilia (Pytilia melba) is a small colourful seed-eating bird in the family Estrildidae. It is widespread throughout Sub-Saharan Africa, though it is more rarely seen in central, far southern and coastal western parts of the continent.

Taxonomy

The green-winged pytilia was formally described in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Fringilla melba.^[1] No explanation was provided for the specific epithet melba but it could possibly be from a supposed Chinese word or place.^[2] Linnaeus based his description on "The Green Gold-Finch" that had been described and illustrated in 1750 by the English naturalist George Edwards in his A Natural History of Uncommon Birds.^[3] Edwards was uncertain of the origin of his specimen and Linnaeus mistakenly specified the locality as China. The specimen was subsequently assumed to be from Angola,^[4] but this was restricted to Luanda in Angola by Phillip Clancey in 1962.^[5] The green-winged pytilia is now placed in the genus Pytilia that was introduced in 1837 by the English naturalist William John Swainson for the red-winged pytilia.^{[6] [7]}

Eight subspecies are recognised:^[7]

• P. m. citerior Strickland, 1853 – Mauritania, Senegal and Gambia to south Sudan
• P. m. jessei Shelley, 1903 – northeast Sudan to northwest Somalia
• P. m. soudanensis (Sharpe, 1890) – southeast Sudan, south Ethiopia, central, south Somalia, northeast Uganda and north, east Kenya
• P. m. percivali Van Someren, 1919 – central Kenya to north Tanzania
• P. m. belli Ogilvie-Grant, 1907 – east DR Congo and west Uganda to west Tanzania
• P. m. grotei Reichenow, 1919 – east Tanzania, north Mozambique and east Malawi
• P. m. hygrophila Irwin & Benson, 1967 – north Zambia and north Malawi
• P. m. melba (Linnaeus, 1758) – south Congo and Angola to southwest Tanzania and south to central Namibia, north South Africa and south Mozambique

External links

• Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds
• Green-winged Pytilia (Melba Finch) Species Profile

Notes and References

1. Book: Linnaeus, Carl . Carl Linnaeus . 1758 . Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis . 1 . 10th . 180 . Laurentii Salvii . Holmiae (Stockholm) . Latin .
2. Book: Jobling, James A. . 2010. The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names . Christopher Helm . London . 978-1-4081-2501-4 . 248 .
3. Book: Edwards, George . George Edwards (naturalist) . 1751 . A Natural History of Uncommon Birds . London . Printed for the author at the College of Physicians . Part III . 128, Plate 128 .
4. Zedlitz . O. Graf . Otto Eduard Graf von Zedlitz und Trützschler . 1916 . Das Süd-Somaliland als zoogeographisches Gebiet . German . Journal für Ornithologie . 64 . 1 . 1–120 [31]. 10.1007/BF02250363 . 1916JOrni..64....1Z . 36424707 .
5. Clancey . Phillip Alexander . Phillip Clancey . 1962 . On the validity of Pytilia melba damarensis Neunzig, 1928 . 82 . 3–5 [4]. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club .
6. Book: Swainson, William John . William John Swainson . 1837 . The Natural History of the Birds of Western Africa . 1 . Edinburgh . W.H. Lizars . 203 .
7. 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 . 15 July 2021 .