Into the wild life of Amandava amandava

This beautiful bird is Red Avadavat, a sparrow sized bird, native to South East Asia. Often kept as a cage bird. The name Amandava or Avadavat are derived from the city of Ahamadabad in Gujarat, India.

My encountering these birds, and all my observations are purely from the wild and each film recording spontaneous, directly from nature during 2017 – 2020 in my Sunday birding trips in outskirts of Bangalore.

To make this article more distinct and meticulous, i will be adding Photographs clicked and shared by my batch mate and birding guide, Mr Devadatha Kumar SR. Again, all these photos are captured in the wild nature, outskirts of Bangalore.

In 2017 when i started birding, i asumed like many other birders, that male Amandava is only in scarlet colour, later now i know that it changes plumage in different stages.

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It is very interesting to learn and observe these birds.

A brief introduction about this bird:
Amandava – It is also called by many other names. Red Avadavat,Tiger Finch, Amandavade, Red waxbill Avadavat, Indian Strawberry, Scarlet Amandava, Avadavat red Munia, Estrilda Amandava.

Origin of this Bird:
They are native to South East Asia
Their natural range stretches from the Indus Valley of Pakistan to the plains of the Brahmaputra extending south to the peninsula of India.

Red Avadavat are about 3-4 inches in length. Average wingspan is around 49 mm.

Both male and females moult into breeding plumage each year. During the breeding season, males have a deep red crown and back and there are white streaks under the eyes. The sides of the head, down the breast and the undersides are scarlet. The wings tail or feathers and flanks are dark red with white spots. The tail feathers are black. The beaks of the males are red. When females go into the breeding season, the often moult and the chest and the underbelly becomes brighter yellow orange.

At the end of the breeding season males begin to moult to plumage that resembles the a coloration of females. The colour of the underbelly ranges from a creamy tan to creamy yellow and there are black streaks under the eyes. The crown, back wings and tail are dark brown with fewer white spots than male in breeding season.

Juveniles of their species are dull- greyish brown all over. This is the first moult from the nesting stage. Nestlings are marked by dark skin down and have markings around the mouth.

They habitat in open bush, sugarcane fields, open woodlands, tall and grassy areas alongside bodies of water, edges of cultivation.

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They feed on variety of food sources. They are known mainly as ground feeders. Plant diet includes seeds, grains, nuts, millets. These are omnivorous. Feeds on insects too. When feeding young, they prefer larvae and pupae, centipedes and caterpillars

Red Avadavat are monogamous species within a breeding season. They breed once a year. Breeding can occur from January to April. They lay 4 to 6 eggs. Average time for hatching is 11 days. Average fledging age is 20 days.

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Male Red Avadavat use their bright red plumage in addition to mating dance to attract females. The grass stem or feathers in their mouth, deeply bowing with feathers erect. Both male and female display. When the birds have paired, they separate from the larger group to build a nest.

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Information Source : Wikipedia https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_avadavat