Yellow browed seedeater
Crithagra whytii (Serinus whytii)
Geographical distribution and habitat
Crithagra whytii, the serin with the yellow eyebrows, lives in the highlands of Tanzania and Zambia and can also be found in Malawi. Not very much more information is known than that this species lives in the evergreen, open forests and in the undergrowth of the wetlands. There is also little useful information about their diet; they have been seen eating some berries like blackberries and raspberries. Depending on the habitat, the nests are found in March (Tanzania), December (Zambia) and in October in Malawi. Undoubtedly, the period in which the nests are found is directly related to the quantity and type of food that is necessary for rearing the young.
Size: 14 cm (5.5 inch)
Description and subspecies
Both male and female have light yellow-green eyebrows. The male's eyebrows are more intense in color than in the female. A somewhat yellow color also appears vaguely under the beak and in the breast feathers. No subspecies of Crithagra whytii are known. On the opposite; in certain books the yellow-browed seedeater is described as a smaller subspecies of Crithagra striolata (Streaky seedeater) with the comment that the yellow-green eyebrows would be a particularly distinctive feature for these birds. Clements Checklist lists Crithagra whytii as an independent species.
Details
There are only a few pictures available from the Yellow-browed seedeater in the wild. We are proud to say that on the website of the European Society of Serinus Breeders we were able to publish the most clear pictures of this Serin species to be found on the internet. Breeding reports of this species in aviculture are difficult to find, most likely because these birds have never been imported in large numbers. So it is to say, the Yellow-browed seedeater is a rarity in European aviculture, and wil probably stay that way.
(16-10-2019)
