Red Avadavat (Amandava amandava)

Red Avadavat


Description

The red avadavat (Amandava amandava), red munia or strawberry finch, is a sparrow-sized bird of the family Estrildidae. It is found in the open fields and grasslands of tropical Asia and is popular as a cage bird due to the colourful plumage of the males in their breeding season. It breeds in the Indian Subcontinent in the monsoon season. The species name of amandava and the common name of avadavat are derived from the city of Ahmedabad in Gujarat, India, from where these birds were exported into the pet trade in former times.


Threats

The red avadavat (Amandava amandava), red munia or strawberry finch, is a sparrow-sized bird of the family Estrildidae. It is found in the open fields and grasslands of tropical Asia and is popular as a cage bird due to the colourful plumage of the males in their breeding season. It breeds in the Indian Subcontinent in the monsoon season. The species name of amandava and the common name of avadavat are derived from the city of Ahmedabad in Gujarat, India, from where these birds were exported into the pet trade in former times


Distribution And Habitat

The Red Avadavat is native from Pakistan through southeast Asia and Indonesia, and has been introduced to Puerto Rico, Guadeloupe, and Martinique in the West Indies (Camacho Rodríguez and others 1999, Raffaele and others 1998). It was probably introduced to Puerto Rico via the pet trade and first recorded in the wild in 1971 (Raffaele and Kepler 1992). This species mostly inhabits grassy borders of wetlands, freshwater swamps, and sugarcane fields (Raffaele and others 1998). The atlas fieldwork found the species in three hexagons or 0.6 percent of the 479 total hexagons in the vicinity of Salinas (see map). Of the three hexagons where this species was found, breeding met the atlas definition of confirmed in 67 percent (two) of the hexagons and probable in 33 percent (one) (see map). Red Avadavat distribution. The map shows the highest breeding code by hexagon and overlaying the ecological life zones in Puerto Rico. Note: percentages may not total 100 due to rounding.

Red Avadavat Distribution

Breeding Habits

Previously published reports indicate that the Red Avadavat seems to breed from June to November in the West Indies (Raffaele and others 1998). However, atlas results show that this species breeds during 241Red Avadavat/Chamorro FresaFebruary and May, and breeding activity appears to peak in February (see chart). Results show that this species breeds in the coastal plain of the subtropical dry forest life zone (100 percent of the hexagons) (see table and map).


Conservation

The global population size of the Red Avadavat has not been quantified or assessed, but the species is described as common or locally common (Clement 1999). Due to the lack of evidence for any declines or substantial threats, the current population trend is suspected to be stable. This species is currently listed as a species of least concern by the IUCN (BirdLife International 2016). Locally, this species is not listed in any of the threatened categories of PRDNER and USFWS. In Puerto Rico, the Red Avadavat has a protected habitat in land of 4 percent or 3 km2 of the total area covered by the hexagons where evidence of breeding was found for this species (72 km2).