The Waxbill Finch Society
The Society for Breeders of African and Asiatic Small Finches
Page last updated: 17 June 2023
Members' breeding returns (incorporates 2022 returns)
At the start of every calendar year, all members are sent a breeding returns form. Members indicate the number of birds they have bred in the previous year for each species kept. The returns are then collated by the WFS breeding records officer and made available for discussion/ wider understanding. The returns seek to provide a picture of a species popularity and its continued viability in aviculture (both in the UK and in continental Europe) and act as a focus on deciding which birds will be be set as the target species for members for the following year. All members are encouraged to return their forms - even if they haven't bred any waxbills that year.
The 2022 returns have now been collated and have been incorporated into the chart below. This alphabetical view covers a 12-year period from 2011-2022 but the totals column sums the full WFS returns covering 1992-2022, which can be downloaded in .xls format or, if required, in .pdf to print. Please note: we are continuing to colour-code breeding numbers against species - a heat map that presents a visual representation of the risks for individual species associated with these annual returns.
The club is grateful to all members who have participated.
| Species (latin name) | 2011 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 2022 | Total WFS returns |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| African Quailfinch (Ortygospiza atricollis) | 7 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 12 | 41 | ||||||
| African Silverbill (Lonchura cantans) | 271 | 417 | 213 | 82 | 159 | 332 | 172 | 219 | 207 | 193 | 117 | 107 | 3988 |
| Bar-breasted Firefinch (Lagonosticta rufopicta) | 5 | 8 | |||||||||||
| Bibfinch (Lepidopygia nana) | 13 | 9 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 38 | 14 | 13 | 33 | 16 | 21 | 36 | 316 |
| Black & White Mannikin (Lonchura bicolor) | 8 | 15 | 20 | 60 | 97 | 250 | 75 | 53 | 27 | 731 | |||
| Black Munia (Lonchura stygia) | 37 | 18 | 17 | 11 | 36 | 19 | 32 | 9 | 186 | ||||
| Black-bellied Firefinch (Lagonosticta rara) | 68 | 4 | 9 | 6 | 106 | ||||||||
| Black-cheeked Waxbill (Estrilda erythronotos) | 14 | 9 | 8 | 13 | 11 | 33 | 23 | 19 | 11 | 20 | 31 | 10 | 376 |
| Black-crowned Waxbill (Estrilda nonnula) | 4 | 2 | 6 | 20 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 229 | |||||
| Black-headed Nun (Lonchura atricapilla) | 26 | 22 | 3 | 3 | 30 | 2 | 41 | 5 | 16 | 27 | 34 | 296 | |
| Blue-billed Firefinch (Lagonosticta rubricata) | 7 | 12 | 12 | 6 | 45 | 100 | 21 | 15 | 28 | 3 | 307 | ||
| Blue-breasted Waxbill (Uraeginthus angolensis) | 3 | 9 | 5 | 13 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 3 | 69 | ||||
| Blue-capped Waxbill (Uraeginthus cyanocephalus) | 192 | 222 | 105 | 77 | 133 | 199 | 181 | 196 | 131 | 40 | 10 | 18 | 2766 |
| Bronze-winged Mannikin (Lonchura cucullata) | 1 | 42 | 98 | 170 | 136 | 99 | 59 | 69 | 712 | ||||
| Brown Twinspot (Clytospiza monteiri) | 5 | 8 | 32 | 75 | |||||||||
| Chestnut-breasted Finch (Lonchura castaneothorax) | 120 | 192 | 64 | 37 | 52 | 46 | 119 | 85 | 87 | 112 | 96 | 60 | 1441 |
| Chestnut-breasted Nigrita (Nigrita bicolor) | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||
| Cut-throat Finch (Amadina fasciata) | 58 | 56 | 33 | 2 | 16 | 101 | 43 | 39 | 84 | 25 | 49 | 28 | 1440 |
| Dusky Munia (Lonchura fuscans) | 26 | 29 | 17 | 5 | 8 | 36 | 24 | 24 | 19 | 19 | 418 | ||
| Dusky Twinspot (Euschistospiza cinereovinacea) | 2 | ||||||||||||
| Dybowski's Twinspot (Euschistospiza dybowskii) | 13 | 27 | 30 | 2 | 6 | 10 | 18 | 62 | 44 | 43 | 48 | 43 | 528 |
| East African Quailfinch (Ortygospiza a. Fuscocrissa *) | 2 | 30 | 28 | 46 | 106 | ||||||||
| Fawn-breasted Waxbills (Estrilda paludicola) | 3 | 9 | 11 | 4 | 3 | 30 | |||||||
| Fernando Po Mannikins (Lonchura bicolor poensis) | 8 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 19 | ||||||||
| Five-coloured Mannikin (Lonchura quinticolor) | 29 | 56 | 24 | 1 | 9 | 15 | 134 | ||||||
| Gold-breasted Waxbill (Amandava subflava) | 71 | 136 | 107 | 37 | 74 | 151 | 114 | 82 | 86 | 19 | 55 | 14 | 2236 |
| Grand Mannikin (Lonchura grandis) | 2 | 10 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 23 | 15 | 7 | 71 | ||||
| Grand Valley Mannikin (Lonchura teerinki) | 2 | 15 | 11 | 18 | 7 | 12 | 10 | 96 | |||||
| Green Avadavat (Amandava formosa) | 69 | ||||||||||||
| Green-backed Twinspot (Mandingoa nitidula) | 4 | 39 | 9 | 90 | |||||||||
| Grey-crowned Mannikin (Lonchura nevermanni) | 1 | 3 | 32 | ||||||||||
| Grey-headed Oliveback (Nesocharis capistrata) | 11 | 6 | 1 | 14 | 38 | ||||||||
| Indian Silverbill (Lonchura malabarica malabarica) | 73 | 108 | 35 | 23 | 60 | 78 | 74 | 20 | 11 | 6 | 4 | 12 | 887 |
| Java Sparrow (Padda oryzivora) | 16 | 104 | 20 | 5 | 69 | 184 | 113 | 108 | 125 | 108 | 84 | 28 | 1604 |
| Javan Mannikin (Lonchura leucogastroides) | 2 | 21 | 9 | 3 | 6 | 201 | |||||||
| Lavender Waxbill (Estrilda caerulescens) | 3 | 31 | 18 | 4 | 2 | 22 | 27 | 45 | 44 | 24 | 3 | 3 | 409 |
| Magpie Mannikin (Lonchura fringilloides) | 42 | 91 | 49 | 36 | 7 | 18 | 438 | ||||||
| Mali Firefinch (Lagonosticta virata) | 2 | 7 | |||||||||||
| Melba Finch (Pytilia melba) | 3 | 1 | 13 | 7 | 5 | 14 | 1 | 6 | 24 | 160 | |||
| Moluccan Mannikin (Lonchura molucca) | 40 | 27 | 15 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 2 | 3 | 23 | 32 | 46 | 39 | 607 |
| New Britain Mannikin (Lonchura spectabilis) | 52 | 42 | 20 | 24 | 10 | 5 | 9 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 204 | ||
| Orange-cheeked Waxbill (Estrilda melpoda) | 23 | 21 | 14 | 12 | 1 | 31 | 55 | 51 | 37 | 26 | 6 | 5 | 660 |
| Orange-winged Pytilia (Pytilia afra) | 104 | 54 | 42 | 23 | 3 | 16 | 6 | 362 | |||||
| Pearl-headed Silverbill (Lonchura griseicapilla) | 60 | 95 | 49 | 28 | 35 | 24 | 4 | 62 | 109 | 69 | 60 | 4 | 836 |
| Peter's Twinspot (Hypargos niveoguttatus) | 25 | 70 | 55 | 26 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 19 | 45 | 91 | 70 | 72 | 700 |
| Purple Grenadier (Granatina ianthinogaster) | 39 | 48 | 49 | 24 | 11 | 53 | 55 | 82 | 101 | 81 | 51 | 15 | 847 |
| Red Avadavat (Amandava amandava) | 66 | 77 | 6 | 22 | 19 | 56 | 92 | 61 | 76 | 17 | 2 | 14 | 1085 |
| Red-billed Firefinch (Lagonosticta senegala) | 132 | 138 | 119 | 147 | 97 | 127 | 176 | 61 | 55 | 42 | 7 | 19 | 1963 |
| Red-billed Quailfinch (Ortygospiza gabonensis) | 9 | 12 | 14 | 14 | 3 | 52 | |||||||
| Red-cheeked Cordon Bleu (Uraeginthus bengalus) | 221 | 161 | 52 | 9 | 15 | 50 | 120 | 181 | 87 | 81 | 42 | 19 | 2085 |
| Red-eared Waxbill (Estrilda troglodytes) | 10 | 32 | 20 | 19 | 36 | 39 | 16 | 16 | 12 | 7 | 13 | 592 | |
| Red-headed Finch (Amadina erythrocephala) | 28 | 24 | 24 | 2 | 16 | 4 | 17 | 59 | 66 | 12 | 611 | ||
| Red-winged Pytilia (Pytilia phoenicoptera) | 121 | 94 | 77 | 53 | 58 | 41 | 19 | 26 | 6 | 15 | 746 | ||
| Rosy Twinspot (Hypargos margaritatus) | 3 | ||||||||||||
| Rufous-backed Mannikin (Lonchura bicolor nigriceps) | 2 | 11 | 14 | 19 | 18 | 8 | 25 | 8 | 1 | 14 | 183 | ||
| St. Helena Waxbill (Estrilda astrild) | 53 | 24 | 11 | 4 | 39 | 49 | 74 | 56 | 30 | 6 | 17 | 5 | 618 |
| Spice Finch (Lonchura punctulata) | 98 | 84 | 46 | 43 | 41 | 44 | 64 | 67 | 73 | 37 | 33 | 25 | 1095 |
| Sundevall Waxbill (Estrilda rhodopyga) | 21 | 14 | 20 | 1 | 129 | ||||||||
| Timor Sparrow (Lonchura fuscata) | 40 | 4 | 15 | 28 | 17 | 5 | 132 | ||||||
| Tri-coloured Mannikin (Lonchura malacca) | 11 | 21 | 44 | 6 | 25 | 11 | 17 | 18 | 42 | 13 | 237 | ||
| Vinaceous Firefinch (Lagonosticta larvata vinacea) | 2 | 12 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 22 | 15 | 37 | 34 | 20 | 8 | 2 | 225 |
| Violet-eared Waxbill (Uraeginthus granatinus) | 88 | 166 | 74 | 44 | 15 | 4 | 135 | 153 | 124 | 72 | 70 | 27 | 1370 |
| Weston Bluebill (Spermophaga haematina) | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 17 | 5 | 1 | 70 | |||||
| White-headed Nun (Lonchura maja) | 116 | 39 | 22 | 48 | 74 | 91 | 65 | 70 | 89 | 14 | 43 | 26 | 1036 |
| White-rumped Mannikin (Lonchura striata) | 3 | 5 | 26 | 32 | 79 | ||||||||
| White-spotted Mannikin (Lonchura leucosticta) | 7 | ||||||||||||
| Yellow-bellied Waxbill (Estrilda melanotis) | 2 | 5 | 9 | 33 | 4 | 1 | 21 | 88 | |||||
| Yellow-winged Pytilia (Pytilia hypogrammica) | 113 | 86 | 68 | 77 | 128 | 69 | 37 | 35 | 26 | 19 | 13 | 19 | 983 |
| TOTALS | 2399 | 2784 | 1568 | 1013 | 1413 | 2248 | 2660 | 2416 | 2483 | 1543 | 1367 | 937 | 38453 |
| No. of Returns | 70 | 74 | 64 | 66 | 88 | 119 | 125 | 93 | 87 | 66 | 58 | 43 | |
| No. of Species | 42 | 44 | 44 | 44 | 44 | 45 | 52 | 56 | 51 | 44 | 43 | 44 | |
| Membership | 235 | 207 | 187 | 201 | 189 | 223 | 250 | 198 | 186 | 161 | 123 | 107 | |
| Percentage of returns/members | 29.8 | 35.7 | 34.2 | 32.8 | 46.6 | 53.4 | 50.0 | 47.0 | 46.8 | 41.0 | 47.2 | 40.2 |