Nigrita (bird)

Nigrita
	Grey-headed nigrita (N. canicapillus)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Estrildidae
Genus:	Nigrita; Strickland, 1843
Species
	N. fusconotus; N. bicolor; N. luteifrons; N. canicapillus;

The nigritas, formerly called negrofinches, are small passerine birds belonging to the genus Nigrita in the estrildid finch family Estrildidae. There are four species which occur in forest, secondary growth and scrubland in West, Central and East Africa.

They are 10-15 centimetres long. The bill is short and black and is fairly slender in some species. The colour of the plumage varies but all have a dark tail. The upperparts are grey or brown and the underparts are black, grey, white or reddish brown. The grey-headed nigrita and male pale-fronted nigrita have a black face and the white-breasted nigrita has a black cap. Nigritas have whistling or trilling songs and calls.

They feed on insects, fruit and seeds. They often forage high in the treetops, usually alone or in pairs.

Species list

Scientific name	Common Name	Distribution
Nigrita fusconotus	White-breasted nigrita	Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Central African Republic, the Republic of Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Tanzania and Uganda
Nigrita bicolor	Chestnut-breasted nigrita	Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Central African Republic, the Republic of Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria, São Tomé and Príncipe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo & Uganda
Nigrita luteifrons	Pale-fronted nigrita	Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, the Republic of Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Togo and Uganda
Nigrita canicapillus	Grey-headed nigrita	Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Central African Republic, the Republic of Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, South Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda and Zambia

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References

Clement, Peter; Harris, Alan & Davies, John (1993) Finches and Sparrows: An Identification Guide, Christopher Helm, London.
Sinclair, Ian & Ryan, Peter (2003) Birds of Africa south of the Sahara, Struik, Cape Town.

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