Purple grenadier

Purple grenadier
	Male in Serengeti National Park
	Captive female
Conservation status
	; Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Estrildidae
Genus:	Granatina
Species:	G. ianthinogaster
Binomial name
	Granatina ianthinogaster; Reichenow, 1879

The purple grenadier (Granatina ianthinogaster) is a common species of estrildid finch found in eastern Africa.

Description[]

The length averages 13.3 cm (5.25 in). All ages and sexes have a black tail, and adults have a red bill. The male has a cinnamon-colored head and neck with a blue patch surrounding the eye. The rump is purplish blue and the underparts are violet-blue with variable rufous patches. The female is smaller and mostly cinnamon brown with white barring on the underparts and silver-blue eyepatches. Juveniles are like females, but mostly unbarred tawny-brown with a reddish-brown bill.^[2]

The song (in Kenya) is described as "a high, thin chit-cheet tsereea-ee-ee tsit-tsit, or cheerer cheet tsee-tsee sur-chit."^[2]

The phylogeny has been obtained by Antonio Arnaiz-Villena et al.Arnaiz-Villena, A.; Ruiz V.; González C. (1999). "Los Azulitos Africanos" (PDF). Revista Pájaros. 35.</ref>

Range and habitat[]

It is found in subtropical and tropical (lowland) dry shrubland in Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda, an estimated global extent of occurrence of 1,500,000 km². The status of the species is evaluated as Least Concern.^[3]

Origin[]

Origin and phylogeny has been obtained by Antonio Arnaiz-Villena et al.^[4] Estrildinae may have originated in India and dispersed thereafter (towards Africa and Pacific Ocean habitats).

References[]

^ BirdLife International (2016). "Granatina ianthinogaster". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T22719504A94630724. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22719504A94630724.en. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
^ ^a ^b Zimmerman, Dale A.; Turner, Donald A.; Pearson, David J. (1999). Birds of Kenya and Northern Tanzania. Princeton University Press. pp. 254–255, 553. ISBN 978-0-691-01022-9.
^ BirdLife International (2004). "Uraeginthus ianthinogaster". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2004. Retrieved 7 June 2007.old-form url .
^ Arnaiz-Villena, A; Ruiz-del-Valle V; Gomez-Prieto P; Reguera R; Parga-Lozano C; Serrano-Vela I (2009). "Estrildinae Finches (Aves, Passeriformes) from Africa, South Asia and Australia: a Molecular Phylogeographic Study" (PDF). The Open Ornithology Journal. 2: 29–36. doi:10.2174/1874453200902010029.

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[iucn_status_12_November_2021-1] BirdLife International (2016). "Granatina ianthinogaster". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T22719504A94630724. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22719504A94630724.en. Retrieved 12 November 2021.

[Zimmerman-2] Zimmerman, Dale A.; Turner, Donald A.; Pearson, David J. (1999). Birds of Kenya and Northern Tanzania. Princeton University Press. pp. 254–255, 553. ISBN 978-0-691-01022-9.

[3] BirdLife International (2004). "Uraeginthus ianthinogaster". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2004. Retrieved 7 June 2007.old-form url .

[4] Arnaiz-Villena, A; Ruiz-del-Valle V; Gomez-Prieto P; Reguera R; Parga-Lozano C; Serrano-Vela I (2009). "Estrildinae Finches (Aves, Passeriformes) from Africa, South Asia and Australia: a Molecular Phylogeographic Study" (PDF). The Open Ornithology Journal. 2: 29–36. doi:10.2174/1874453200902010029.

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