Senegal Fire Finch (Red-billed Fire Finch)

Scientific Name: Lagonosticta senegala

Diet: Finch seed mix, greens, vegetables, fruit, soak seed and sprouts, spray millet, hard boiled egg, softfood supplements, live insects or commercial insect softfood. Free choice grit, cuttlebone. Live insects ( mealworms, crickets, wax worms) and boiled egg during chick rearing.

Breeding: Enclosed wicker nest, open nest, or nest box.

Building materials: Dried grasses, coconut fiber, sisal,

nest lined with feathers, sharpi cotton.

Eggs: 3 - 4 small white.  Incubate: 11 - 14 days.

Fledge: 16 - 18 days. Fledglings are a dull olive gray .

Hen

Cock

Cock bronze back, red head and chest, under parts olive brown, small white dots on sides, yellow eye ring. Beak waxy  red with dark stripe.Tail dark brown tapered medium length.

Hen olive-brown back, olive-yellow chest, small white dots on sides, yellow eye ring, red eye brow, and waxy red beak with dark stripe.

Size: 3 ½ - 4 “

Song: Short melody - male