Brown firefinch
Lagonosticta nitidula Hartlaub, 1886
The brown firefinch (Lagonosticta nitidula) is a species in the family Estrildidae, order Passeriformes. Recorded adults weigh 10 g to 10.7 g. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.
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Quick facts about the brown firefinch
- Weight
- 10 g – 10.7 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Diet
- Granivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- shrublandsrc for Habitat
- Young per litter or clutch
- 4src for Young per litter or clutch
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Sedentarysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Where does the brown firefinch live?
Not recorded
What is the brown firefinch?
The brown firefinch (Lagonosticta nitidula) is a common species of estrildid finch found in Southern Africa. It has an estimated global extent of occurrence of 1,300,000 km2.
It is found in Angola, The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zambia, southern Tanzania and northern areas of Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe. The IUCN has classified the species as being of least concern.
From the Wikipedia article “Brown firefinch” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Brown_firefinch&oldid=1379847418), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the brown firefinch endangered?
The brown firefinch is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.
How is the brown firefinch classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderPasseriformes
- familyEstrildidae
- genusLagonosticta
- SpeciesLagonosticta nitidula Hartlaub, 1886
Synonyms Hypargus harterti, Lagonosticta harterti, Lagonosticta nitidula nitidula
Other names and names in other languages (29)
- BRFIEnglish
- Bruinvuurvinkie (Bruinrobbin)Afrikaans
- amaranta brunaCatalan
- amarant hnědýCzech
- llinos dân frownWelsh
- Stor PunktamarantDanish
- BraunbürzelamarantGerman
- bruna fajrestrildoEsperanto
- Amaranta pardaSpanish
- hall-leekamadiinEstonian
- ruokoruusupeippoFinnish
- Amarante nitiduleFrench
- ružičastogrla estrildaCroatian
- nagy pettyesamarantHungarian
- Amaranto brunoItalian
- チャイロコウギョクチョウJapanese
- rudasis amarantasLithuanian
- Bruine AmarantDutch
- Bruin VuurvinkjeDutch
- amarantka szaraPolish
- granadeiro-castanhoPortuguese
- peito-de-fogo-castanhoPortuguese
- Коричневый амарантRussian
- amarant hnedýSlovak
- Velika tačkasta amarantaSerbian
- brun amarantSwedish
- Kahverengi AteşispinozuTurkish
- амарант бурийUkrainian
- 褐背火雀Chinese
Relatives of the brown firefinch
Other species in the same genus Lagonosticta.
Red-billed firefinch
Lagonosticta senegala
African firefinch
Lagonosticta rubricata
Rock firefinch
Lagonosticta sanguinodorsalis
Black-faced firefinch
Lagonosticta larvata
Jameson's firefinch
Lagonosticta rhodopareia
Black-bellied firefinch
Lagonosticta rara
CompareBrown firefinch vs Red-billed firefinchBrown firefinch vs African firefinchBrown firefinch vs Rock firefinchBrown firefinch vs Black-faced firefinch
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the brown firefinch?
An adult brown firefinch weighs 10 g – 10.7 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Is the brown firefinch endangered?
The brown firefinch is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.
What kind of animal is the brown firefinch?
The brown firefinch (Lagonosticta nitidula) belongs to the family Estrildidae in the order Passeriformes.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Brown firefinch (Lagonosticta nitidula). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/brown-firefinch
“Brown firefinch (Lagonosticta nitidula).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/brown-firefinch.
@misc{brown_firefinch_2026,
title = {Brown firefinch (Lagonosticta nitidula)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/brown-firefinch},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}