Brown-rumped Seedeater

The brown-rumped seedeater (Crithagra tristriata) is a species of finch in the family Fringillidae.
It is native to the Ethiopian Highlands and Karkaar (Somaliland).
It is widespread in towns, villages, gardens, plantations and upland heath.

The brown-rumped seedeater was formerly placed in the genus Serinus, but phylogenetic analysis using mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequences found that the genus was polyphyletic. The genus was therefore split and a number of species including the brown-rumped seedeater were moved to the resurrected genus Crithagra.

 The brown-rumped seedeater is typically 13 cm long. It is a uniform grey-brown with a small white supercilium, and has a plain (not streaked or spotted) breast with white under the chin. Its uniformity means its eponymous ´brown rump´ is often not apparent. It feeds on some small seeds and grains in plants and other small shrubs.