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 & 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.
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).
Related Species
Family:
finch