Coccopygia bocagei Shelley, 1903
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.
Plate XXXIII from G. E. Shelley's publication The birds of Africa (vol. 4, 1905); illustration by Henrik Grönvold: (♂ & ♀) Coccopygia bocagei Identifier: birdsofafricacom41shel (find matches) Title: The birds of Africa, comprising all the species which occur in the Ethiopian region Subjects: Birds Contributing Library: Smithsonian Libraries Digitizing Sponsor: Smithsonian Libraries View Book Page: Book Viewer About This Book: Catalog Entry View All Images: All Images From Book Click here to view book online to see this illustration in context in a browseable online version of this book. Note About Images: Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original work.
Henrik Grønvold · Public domain · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
The Angola waxbill (Coccopygia bocagei) is a species of estrildid finch endemic to western Angola. Some taxonomists consider it to be conspecific with the swee waxbill (Coccopygia melanotis) of the south and east of South Africa; it differs from this in the yellowish belly and undertail coverts, rather than grey as in the swee waxbill.
It is 9–10 cm long, with a grey crown and pale grey breast, grading into the yellow belly. As in swee waxbill, the back and wings are olive-green, the rump is bright red, and the tail black. Males have a black throat, and females a pale grey throat. The bill is bicoloured, black on the upper mandible, and red on the lower mandible. The iris is brown, and the legs dark grey.
Wikipedia contributors, Angola waxbill; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T13:55:37.093018+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Coccopygia bocagei Shelley, 1903
- Name authority
- Shelley, 1903
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Estrildidae
- Genus
- Coccopygia
- 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
- genusCoccopygia Reichenbach, 1862
- speciesCoccopygia bocagei Shelley, 1903
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Coccopygia. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Swee WaxbillCoccopygia melanotis (Temminck, 1823) | EstrildidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Yellow-bellied WaxbillCoccopygia quartinia (Bonaparte, 1850) | 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=916650 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.
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:5ZG7C. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.