The Chad Firefinch or Reichenow's Firefinch (Lagonosticta umbrinodorsalis) is a small passerine

Passerine

A passerine is a bird of the order Passeriformes, which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds or, less accurately, as songbirds, the passerines form one of the most diverse terrestrial vertebrate orders: with over 5,000 identified species, it has roughly...

 bird

Bird

Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...

 belonging to the firefinch

Firefinch

The firefinches are a genus of bird in the Estrildidae family.There are about 11 species:* Bar-breasted Firefinch, Lagonosticta rufopicta* Brown Firefinch, Lagonosticta nitidula...

 genus Lagonosticta in the estrildid finch

Estrildid finch

The estrildid finches are small passerine birds of the Old World tropics and Australasia. They can be classified as the family Estrildidae , or as a sub-group within the family Passeridae, which also includes the true sparrows....

 family Estrildidae. It is restricted to a small area of Central Africa

Central Africa

Central Africa is a core region of the African continent which includes Burundi, the Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Rwanda....

. It was formerly classified as a subspecies

Subspecies

Subspecies in biological classification, is either a taxonomic rank subordinate to species, ora taxonomic unit in that rank . A subspecies cannot be recognized in isolation: a species will either be recognized as having no subspecies at all or two or more, never just one...

 of Jameson's Firefinch

Jameson's Firefinch

Jameson's Firefinch is a common species of estrildid finch found in Southern Africa. It has an estimated global extent of occurrence of 2,600,000 km²....

 (L. rhodopareia) but is now often treated as a separate species. Its alternative name commemorates Anton Reichenow

Anton Reichenow

Anton Reichenow was a German ornithologist.Reichenow was the son-in-law of Jean Cabanis, and worked at the Humboldt Museum from 1874 to 1921. He was an expert on African birds, making a collecting expedition to West Africa in 1872 and 1873, and writing Die Vögel Afrikas...

, the German

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 ornithologist who described the species.

It is 10–11 centimetres long. The male is mostly bright pinkish-red, darker on the upperparts. The crown and nape are grey and the vent is dark. The thick, conical bill

Beak

The beak, bill or rostrum is an external anatomical structure of birds which is used for eating and for grooming, manipulating objects, killing prey, fighting, probing for food, courtship and feeding young...

 is grey and the legs and feet are also grey. Females are similar to males but are slightly duller, paler and browner. Juveniles

Juvenile (organism)

A juvenile is an individual organism that has not yet reached its adult form, sexual maturity or size. Juveniles sometimes look very different from the adult form, particularly in terms of their colour...

 are brown above and buff below with a pinkish-red rump. The birds have dry, trilling calls.

Jameson's Firefinch is similar but lacks the grey crown and nape and does not overlap in range. The Rock Firefinch

Rock Firefinch

The Rock Firefinch is a species of estrildid finch found in northern Nigeria. It has an estimated global extent of occurrence of 29,000 km².The status of the species is evaluated as Least Concern.-Appearance:...

 (L. sanguinodorsalis) is also similar but has grey only on the crown and its bill has a pale grey patch at the base of the lower mandible.

The bird is endemic to the East Sudanian savanna

East Sudanian savanna

The East Sudanian Savanna is a hot, dry, tropical savanna ecoregion of central Africa.-Location and description:This is the eastern half of the broad savanna belt which runs east and west across Africa, this section lying east of the Cameroon Highlands...

 ecoregion

Ecoregion

An ecoregion , sometimes called a bioregion, is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than an ecozone and larger than an ecosystem. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and contain characteristic, geographically distinct assemblages of natural...

. It occurs in south-west Chad

Chad

Chad , officially known as the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic to the south, Cameroon and Nigeria to the southwest, and Niger to the west...

 where it is fairly common and north-east Cameroon

Cameroon

Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon , is a country in west Central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west; Chad to the northeast; the Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Cameroon's coastline lies on the...

 where it is rare. It inhabits rocky hillsides in areas of arid savanna

Savanna

A savanna, or savannah, is a grassland ecosystem characterized by the trees being sufficiently small or widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to support an unbroken herbaceous layer consisting primarily of C4 grasses.Some...

with tall grass.