Red-headed Bluebill
Spermophaga ruficapilla (Shelley, 1888)
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 red-headed bluebill (Spermophaga ruficapilla) is a common species of estrildid finch found in Sub-Saharan Africa.
It is found in Angola, Burundi, Central African Republic, The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda.
This species has a large range, with an estimated global extent of occurrence of 560,000 km2. The global population size has not been quantified, but it is believed to be large as the species is described as "frequent" in at least parts of its range (Fry and Keith 2004). Global population trends have not been quantified, but the species is not believed to approach the thresholds for the population decline criterion of the IUCN Red List (i.e. declining more than 30% in ten years or three generations). For these reasons, the species is evaluated as being of least concern.[1]
Wikipedia contributors, Red-headed bluebill; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T07:38:39.366097+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Spermophaga ruficapilla (Shelley, 1888)
- Name authority
- (Shelley, 1888)
- Common name
- Red-headed 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 ruficapilla (Shelley, 1888)
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 |
| Western BluebillSpermophaga haematina (Vieillot, 1807) | 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=563055 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:4YK9Q. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.