Pytilia is a genus of small brightly coloured seed-eating birds in the family Estrildidae. They are distributed across Africa.
Taxonomy The genus Pytilia was introduced in 1837 by the English naturalist William Swainson for the red-winged pytilia. The name Pytilia is a diminutive of the genus Pitylus that had been introduced in 1829 by the French naturalist Georges Cuvier for the grosbeaks. A molecular phylogenetic study has shown that the genus is basal to a clade containing the twinspots in the genera Euschistospiza, Hypargos and Clytospiza and the firefinches in Lagonosticta.
Species The genus contains five species:
Image Common name Scientific name Distribution Orange-winged pytilia Pytilia afra Angola, Botswana, Burundi, the Republic of Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, South Africa, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe Red-winged pytilia Pytilia phoenicoptera Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Togo and Uganda Red-billed pytilia Pytilia lineata Ethiopia Green-winged pytilia Pytilia melba Sub-Saharan Africa Yellow-winged pytilia Pytilia hypogrammica Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Togo
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