Shelley's crimsonwing
Shelley's crimsonwing is a vulnerable species of estrildid finch native to the Albertine Rift montane forests. It has shown population decline over the past few decades, with a current population estimate of 2,500–9,999. This is possibly related to uncontrolled deforestation.
Identification
It is a brightly coloured finch found at low levels. It is approximately long. The male Shelley's crimson-wing has bright red crown, face and back, with contrasting black wings and tail, as well as olive-yellow underparts with warmer tones on flanks and belly. The female is drabber with an olive head and some red on the mantle and rump. Both sexes have bright red bills.Its voice is sharp and high-pitched with tit tit tit call. Rising and falling series of high-pitched tu tutu ti ti ti.
Habitat
Shelley's crimsonwing inhabits the closed-canopy moist forest, often in lush valley bottoms near water, as well as low secondary growth at forest edges, forest clearings and glades dominated by large herbs, bamboo thickets and the upper forest/moorland ecotone.It is found throughout the Albertine Rift montane forests, including the Itombwe Mountain, Kahuzi-Biéga National Park and mountains at the west of Lake Kivu in Democratic Republic of Congo, Nyungwe Forest, Gishwati, Makwa and Mukura Forest in Rwanda, Bururi Forest and elsewhere in Burundi, the Rwenzori Mountains and Bwindi Impenetrable Forest in Uganda, as well as the Virunga Mountain. It is generally rare, only being common in a few threatened forests, which shows unexplained fluctuations in abundance.