Belongs within: Passerida.
Contains: Poephilinae, Lonchura, Erythrura, Amadina, Estrilda, Lagonosticta.
The Estrildidae, waxbills, are a family of small, gregarious finch-like birds with small, stout, pointed bills and short rounded wings found in Africa, southern Asia and Australasia. Many waxbills are brightly coloured, and this family includes many of the ‘finches’ of the aviary trade. The phylogenetic analyses by Burleigh et al. (2015) and Jetz et al. (2012) support a basal African clade including the green-backed twinspot Mandingoa nitidula and the crimsonwings Cryptospiza. Mandingoa nitidula is a small green bird with a black belly marked with white spots. Other members of the family include the Australian firetails of the genus Stagonopleura, characterised by a red bill, brown upperparts with a bright red rump, and barred underparts.
<==Estrildidae [Astrildidae, Estreldidae, Estrildinae, Lonchurinae]
| i. s.: Oreostruthus fuliginosusJT12
| Lemuresthes nanaJF06
| Paludipasser locustellaAP21
| Lepidopygia nanaAP21
|--+--Mandingoa nitidulaBKB15
| `--Cryptospiza Salvadori 1884BKB15, B94 [Cryptospizinae]
| |--C. jacksoniJT12
| |--C. reichenoviiBKB15
| |--C. salvadoriiJT12
| `--C. shelleyiAP21
`--+--+--PoephilinaeBKB15
| `--+--OdontospizaBKB15
| | |--O. canicepsJF06
| | `--O. griseicapillaBKB15 [=Lonchura griseicapillaJT12]
| `--+--LonchuraBKB15
| `--+--EuodiceBKB15
| | |--E. cantansBKB15 [=Lonchura malabarica cantansJF06, L81]
| | `--E. malabaricaBKB15 [=Lonchura malabaricaJF06]
| `--StagonopleuraBKB15
| |--S. bella (Latham 1802) [=Loxia bella, Zonaeginthus bellus]CC10
| | |--S. b. bellaCC10
| | `--S. b. samueli (Mathews 1912) [=Zonaeginthus bellus samueli]CC10
| |--S. guttata (Shaw 1796) [=Loxia guttata, Steganopleura (l. c.) guttata]CC10
| `--S. oculataJT12
`--+--+--Chloebia gouldiaeJF06
| `--ErythruraBKB15
`--+--+--Heteromunia Mathews 1913BKB15, B94 [Heteromuniinae]
| | `--H. pectoralis (Gould 1840)BKB15, WS48 [=Amadina pectoralisWS48, Lonchura pectoralisWS48]
| `--+--SporaeginthusBKB15
| | |--S. formosusBKB15
| | `--S. subflavusBKB15
| |--+--AmadinaBKB15
| | `--Amandava Blyth 1836BKB15, B94 [Amandavinae]
| | |--A. formosaJT12
| | `--+--A. amandavaJT12
| | | |--A. a. amandavaL81
| | | `--A. a. puniceaL81
| | `--A. subflavaJT12
| `--+--Nigrita Fraser 1842BKB15, F42 [=Aethiops Strickland 1841F42]
| | | i. s.: N. fusconotus Fraser 1842F42
| | | N. luteifronsJT12
| | |--*N. canicapillus (Strickland 1841)F42, BKB15, S41 [=*Aethiops canicapillusF42]
| | `--+--N. bicolorBKB15
| | `--ParmoptilaBKB15
| | |--P. jamesoniBKB15
| | |--P. rubrifronsJT12 [=Pholidornis rubrifronsSPS03]
| | `--P. woodhouseiBKB15
| `--+--EstrildaBKB15
| `--+--CoccopygiaBKB15
| | |--C. bocageiAP21
| | |--C. melanotisBKB15 [=Estrilda melanotisJF06]
| | `--C. quartiniaAP21 [=Estrilda quartiniaJF06]
| `--NesocharisBKB15
| |--N. ansorgeiJT12
| |--N. capistrataAP21
| `--N. shelleyiBKB15
`--+--+--OrtygospizaBKB15
| | |--O. atricollisBKB15
| | |--O. fuscocrissaJT12
| | |--O. gabonensisJT12
| | `--O. locustellaJT12
| `--+--Euschistospiza Wolters 1943BKB15, B94 [incl. Didymosticta Steiner 1960 (n. n.)B94; Didymostictinae]
| | |--E. cinereovinaceaBKB15
| | `--E. dybowskiiAP21
| `--HypargosBKB15
| |--H. margaritatusBKB15
| `--H. niveoguttatusBKB15
`--+--LagonostictaBKB15
`--+--Pyrenestes Swainson 1837BKB15, B94 [Pyrenestinae]
| |--P. minorJT12
| |--P. ostrinusAP21
| `--P. sanguineusBKB15
`--+--Uraeginthus Cabanis 1851BKB15, B94 [incl. Granatina Sharpe 1890B94]
| | i. s.: U. granatinusAP21 [=Granatina granatinaJF06]
| | U. ianthinogasterAP21 [=Granatina ianthinogasterJF06]
| |--U. angolensisBKB15
| | |--U. a. angolensisL81
| | `--U. a. niassensisL81
| `--+--U. bengalusBKB15
| `--U. cyanocephalusBKB15
`--+--SpermophagaBKB15
| |--S. haematinaBKB15
| |--S. poliogenysJT12
| `--S. ruficapillaJT12
`--Pytilia Swainson 1837BKB15, B94 [Pytiliidae, Pytiliinae]
| i. s.: P. melbaAP21
|--P. afraBKB15
`--+--P. lineataBKB15
`--+--P. hypogrammicaBKB15
`--P. phoenicopteraBKB15
*Type species of generic name indicated
References
[AP21] Arlott, N., & B. van Perlo. 2021. Collins Birds of the World. William Collins.
[B94] Bock, W. J. 1994. History and nomenclature of avian family-group names. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 222: 1–281.
[BKB15] Burleigh, J. G., R. T. Kimball & E. L. Braun. 2015. Building the avian tree of life using a large-scale, sparse supermatrix. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 84: 53–63.
[CC10] Checklist Committee (OSNZ). 2010. Checklist of the Birds of New Zealand, Norfolk and Macquarie Islands, and the Ross Dependency, Antarctica 4th ed. Ornithological Society of New Zealand and Te Papa Press: Wellington.
[F42] Fraser, L. 1842. On new species of birds collected in the Niger expedition. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 10: 144–145.
[JT12] Jetz, W., G. H. Thomas, J. B. Joy, K. Hartmann & A. Ø. Mooers. 2012. The global diversity of birds in space and time. Nature 491: 444–448.
[JF06] Jønsson, K. A., & J. Fjeldså. 2006. A phylogenetic supertree of oscine passerine birds. Zoologica Scripta 35: 149–186.
[L81] Long, J. L. 1981. Introduced Birds of the World: The worldwide history, distribution and influence of birds introduced to new environments. Reed: Sydney.
[SPS03] Sefc, K. M., R. B. Payne & M. D. Sorenson. 2003. Phylogenetic relationships of African sunbird-like warblers: moho (Hyperergus atriceps), green hylia (Hylia prasina) and tit-hylia (Pholidornis rushiae). Ostrich 74: 8–17.
[S41] Strickland, H. 1841. On some new genera of birds. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 9: 27–33.
[WS48] Whittell, H. M., & D. L. Serventy. 1948. A systematic list of the birds of Western Australia. Public Library, Museum and Art Gallery of Western Australia, Special Publication 1: 1–126.