Introduction

Smith organised an expedition to the interior and he travelled to near the Botswana border in 1834-35, collecting many new birds, reptiles, mammals and other taxa along the way.

Smith noted that the Scaly-feathered Finch was common north of Latakoo, and that he only once saw it south of that locality, namely, near the source of the Great Fish River. Vincent 1935 argues that the correct type-locality depends on which of the two localities Smith first visited. Smith's expedition account shows that he travelled from the coast to Graaf Reinet and then to Latakoo (near Kuruman). Smith first saw the species near the source of the Great Fish River (near Graaf Reinet), but it is unclear if he collected a specimen here.

Clancey (1957) and Oschadleus (2007) argued that the Scaly-feathered Finch does not occur near Graaf Reinet and thus Latakoo (ie Kuruman) should be taken as the type locality.

Currently Kuruman is favoured as the type locality. Andrew Smith wrote detailed notes in his diary on 19 March 1835 about the Scaly-feathered Finch at the Moshawing River, near Latakoo, where he also found a nest with 2 chicks.

The first illustration of a Scaly-feathered Finch was published by Andrew Smith in 1844 in his well known work, Illustrations of the Zoology of South Africa, and the Scaly-feathered Finch with its nest was painted by George Henry Ford.

Scientific citation

Meaning of names

First English name

Alternate names

Collector

Date collected

Locality collected

Type specimens

Identification. There are two species in the genus Sporopipes, this name meaning "to look for seeds". They are very small, social weavers of semi-arid parts of Africa. Both species have moustachial stripes but they do not overlap in distribution. The sexes are alike. The young have the crown and forehead dull grey-brown with no scaling, and the malar stripes are absent.

Distribution. The Scaly-feathered Finch is found through southern Africa and the extreme southern parts of Angola and Zambia. There are disjunct populations in the Eastern and Western Cape. For changes in abundance in SOuth Africa, see here. The Scaly-feathered Finch has no recognised subspecies, although several have been proposed in the past.

Habitat. The Scaly-feathered Finch inhabits dry Acacia savanna, arid scrub and bush along dry watercourses, and shrubs near houses. This species is found in pairs or flocks of up to 20 birds, and it regularly flocks with waxbills. Scaly-feathered Finches sleep communally in a nest through the year, with up to 12 birds using one nest, to keep warm on icy winter nights. Resting in the nest during the day also enables the birds to avoid the hottest times in summer.

Food. The Scaly-feathered Finch forages on the ground, feeding mainly on small seeds, with insects being fed to their young. They drink when water is available but, remarkably, they can survive for months without drinking as they can produce metabolic water from their diet of dry seeds.

Breeding. The Scaly-feathered Finch is monogamous, and some courtship behaviour resembles that of waxbills. It is suspected to be a cooperative breeder, but this needs to be investigated.

The Scaly-feathered Finch nest is an untidy, rugby-ball shaped mass of grass stems and grass seed heads. There is usually one nest, but sometimes nests from previous seasons may be present. The nest is placed in trees or bushes at 1-4 m above the ground. It may use May the old cup nest of a shrike or flycatcher and build a roof over it.

The incubation period is fairly short at 10-12 days, as is found in many passerines in arid areas. Incubation is by the female, while both sexes feed the nestlings. The young continue to sleep in the nest for several weeks.

Range changes in SA

Areas with very large increases include:
1. range expansion towards Pafuri (KNP), and breeding
2. range increases around Burgersfort
3. Northern Cape and western Free State show large or very large increases
4. Western parts of the Eastern Cape areas show large or very large increases

Large decreases appear to have occurred:
5. In Gauteng it has a very low reporting rate, probably due to decreases in size of suitable habitat patches
6. Large or very large decreases appear to have occurred over large areas of northern South Africa, probably related to habitat changes.

Range changes elsewhere