Waxbills (Estrildidae)

Crimson Seedcracker (Pyrenestes sanguineus) - HBW 15, p. 322

French: Pyréneste gros-bec German: Karmesinastrild Spanish: Estrilda Piquigorda Escarlata
Other common names: (Brown-backed/Western) Seedcracker

Taxonomy: Pyrenestes sanguineus Swainson, 1837, Senegal.
May form a superspecies with P. minor and P. ostrinus, and the three sometimes treated as conspecific. Occurs in several morphs, varying in body size and bill size, with no geographical pattern; smaller birds with medium-sized bill proposed as a geographical race, coccineus (described from Sierra Leone), but such individuals occur alongside larger-billed ones in several other parts of species' range, and considered no more than size variants. Treated as monotypic.

Distribution: Gambia, S Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, SW Mali, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Ivory Coast.