Waxbill

Description:

Also known as St Helena waxbill, this is a small finch, smaller than House sparrow (approx 11 to 12 cm in length), all in grey-brownish colors with red eye-mask and red bill; and whitish cheeks and chin.

Habitat:

Common resident bird in many places of sub-Saharan Africa, usually found in small groups and near water. Looks for tall grass and reed vegetation on shores and marshy areas. Here, on shores of lake Awassa, in marshy parts of this shallow freshwater (or slightly alkaline) lake.

Notes:

Lake Awassa (or Hawassa) is a part of main Ethiopian Rift Valley series of lakes, situated at some 1700 m of altitude. Like most of Rift lakes in Ethiopian highlands, this is an endorreic lake (landlocked mass of water having no outlet and not connected to the sea), and as such surrounded by marshes that regulate its levels through evaporation. Because of marshes and its forested shores, the lake is known as birdwatcher's paradise.