Swee waxbill
Coccopygia melanotis (Temminck, 1823)
The swee waxbill (Coccopygia melanotis) is a species in the family Estrildidae, order Passeriformes. Recorded adults weigh 6.51 g to 7.8 g. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.

Quick facts about the swee waxbill
- Weight
- 6.51 g – 7.8 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
- 5.2src for Young per litter or clutch
- Lifestyle
- Generalistsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Sedentarysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Where does the swee waxbill live?
Not recorded
What is the swee waxbill?
The swee waxbill (Coccopygia melanotis), is a common species of estrildid finch native to Southern Africa.
From the Wikipedia article “Swee waxbill” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Swee_waxbill&oldid=1304371581), 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 swee waxbill endangered?
The swee waxbill 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 swee waxbill classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderPasseriformes
- familyEstrildidae
- genusCoccopygia
- SpeciesCoccopygia melanotis (Temminck, 1823)
Synonyms Coccopygia melanotis melanotis, Estrilda melanotis, Estrilda melanotis melanotis, Fringilla dufresnii, Fringilla melanotis
Other names and names in other languages (36)
- Common swee waxbillEnglish
- SwieAfrikaans
- Suidelike SwieAfrikaans
- Suidelike Swie (Suidelike Swiesysie)Afrikaans
- شمعي المنقار أسود الأذنينArabic
- estrilda de galtes negresCatalan
- astrild šedoprsýCzech
- Sortkindet AstrildDanish
- GrünastrildGerman
- AngolaschwarzbäckchenGerman
- KapgrünastrildGerman
- SchwarzbäckchenGerman
- nigravanga estrildoEsperanto
- Estrilda ventrigualda meridionalSpanish
- oliivselg-amadiinEstonian
- vihervahanokkaFinnish
- Astrild à joues noiresFrench
- Dos-vert à joues noiresFrench
- crnogrla estrildaCroatian
- sárgahasú asztrildHungarian
- Estrilda sui suiItalian
- キバラカエデチョウJapanese
- geltonpilvė astrildaLithuanian
- GroenrugastrildDutch
- krattastrildNorwegian
- szarogłówka czarnolicaPolish
- bico-de-lacre-do-caboPortuguese
- bico-de-lacre-de-garganta-pretaPortuguese
- Желтобрюхий астрильдRussian
- Черногорлый астрильдRussian
- astrilda sivoprsáSlovak
- svartkindad astrildSwedish
- Yeşil MumgagaTurkish
- астрильд жовточеревийUkrainian
- 史威梅花雀Chinese
- 黑颊黄腹梅花雀Chinese
Relatives of the swee waxbill
Other species in the same genus Coccopygia.
Yellow-bellied waxbill
Coccopygia quartinia
Angola waxbill
Coccopygia bocagei
CompareSwee waxbill vs Yellow-bellied waxbillSwee waxbill vs Angola waxbill
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the swee waxbill?
An adult swee waxbill weighs 6.51 g – 7.8 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Is the swee waxbill endangered?
The swee waxbill 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 swee waxbill?
The swee waxbill (Coccopygia melanotis) 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). Swee waxbill (Coccopygia melanotis). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/swee-waxbill
“Swee waxbill (Coccopygia melanotis).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/swee-waxbill.
@misc{swee_waxbill_2026,
title = {Swee waxbill (Coccopygia melanotis)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/swee-waxbill},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}