Firefinch
| Firefinches | |
|---|---|
| Red-billed firefinch (Lagonosticta senegala) | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Estrildidae |
| Subfamily: | Estrildidae |
| Genus: | Lagonosticta Cabanis, 1851 |
| Type species | |
| Fringilla rubricata M.H.C. Lichtenstein, 1823 | |
| Species | |
|
11, see text | |
The firefinches form a genus, Lagonosticta, of small seed-eating African birds in the family Estrildidae.
The genus was introduced by the German ornithologists Jean Cabanis in 1851. The type species was subsequently designated as the African firefinch. The name combines the Ancient Greek words lagōn "flank" and stiktos "spotted". The genus Lagonosticta is sister to the brown twinspot which is placed in its own genus Clytospiza.