YELLOW-THROATED SEED-EATER
(Serinus flavigula)
Wing 64-70 mm
The Yellow-throated Seed-eater is known from a few isolated areas in acacia-grass savanna in southern and southeastern Ethiopia. It is a species of questionable taxonomic status since it may be a hybrid between the Yellow-rumped Seed-eater (S. atrogularis) and the White-bellied Canary (S. dorostritus). It has a grey back and is similar in size to the Yellow-rumped Seed-eater but has streaks on the back and a long tail like the White-bellied Canary. Further evidence for considering the Yellow-throated Seed-eater a hybrid is that it is known only from localities where both the Yellow-rumped Seed-eater and the White-bellied Canary would be expected to occur as well.
The habits of the Yellow-throated Seed-eater are unknown. Its nest and eggs are undescribed. Most ornithological references maintain that, until the Yellow-throated Seed-eater is better known, it should be considered a separate species. It is on this basis that the bird is included here and therefore is considered to be another species found only in Ethiopia.
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