Western Bluebill
Spermophaga haematina (Vieillot, 1807)
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
The western bluebill (Spermophaga haematina) is a common species of estrildid finch found in Africa. It has an estimated global extent of occurrence of 1,900,000 km2.
It is native to the Guineo-Congolian region, as well as the Jos Plateau and from western Gambia to Guinea Bissau.
The IUCN has classified the species as being of least concern.
The male of this species has a red tipped blue bill, and red flanks from the chin to the breast. They also have a characteristic white-blue eye ring. The female has a blue bill with not as much red at the tip, and face color of either black, washed red or maroon.
Wikipedia contributors, Western bluebill; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T05:48:07.235938+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Spermophaga haematina (Vieillot, 1807)
- Name authority
- (Vieillot, 1807)
- Common name
- Western Bluebill
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Estrildidae
- Genus
- Spermophaga
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classAves
- orderPasseriformes
- familyEstrildidae Bonaparte, 1850
- genusSpermophaga Swainson, 1837
- speciesSpermophaga haematina (Vieillot, 1807)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Spermophaga. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Grant's BluebillSpermophaga poliogenys (Ogilvie-Grant, 1906) | EstrildidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Red-headed BluebillSpermophaga ruficapilla (Shelley, 1888) | EstrildidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=563053 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:4YK9N. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.