Waxbills (Estrildidae)

Jameson's Firefinch (Lagonosticta rhodopareia) - HBW 15, p. 342

French: Amarante de Jameson German: Rosenamarant Spanish: Amaranta de Jameson
Other common names: Ethiopian/Abyssinian Firefinch (rhodopareia)

Taxonomy: E.[strelda] rhodopareia Heuglin, 1868, Keren, 4000-5000 feet (c. 1220-1525 m), Eritrea.
Has been suggested as forming a superspecies with L. virata and L. umbrinodorsalis, and the three sometimes treated as conspecific; superspecies treatment, if appropriate, would presumably include also recently described L. sanguinodorsalis. Nominate race intergrades with jamesoni in NW Kenya and N Uganda, and ansorgei intergrades with jamesoni in N Namibia. Proposed race taruensis (described from Tsavo, in Kenya) synonymized with jamesoni. Three subspecies normally recognized.

Subspecies and Distribution:

rhodopareia ( Heuglin, 1868) - NW Eritrea, SW Ethiopia, S Sudan and NE Uganda E to N & W Kenya.
ansorgei Neumann, 1908 - extreme SW DRCongo (lower R Congo), Angola (Cabinda, and Luanda E to Lunda Norte and S to N Namibe and Moxico) and NW Namibia (R Cunene).
jamesoni Shelley, 1882 - E & S Kenya (S from lower R Tana and Lamu) S to Tanzania, SE DRCongo, Zambia, Malawi, extreme NE Namibia (Caprivi), N & E Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, N & NE South Africa (S to extreme N KwaZulu-Natal) and Swaziland.