Pytilia melba (Linnaeus, 1758)

Dove, Carla J., Whatton, James F., Milensky, Christopher M., Boss, Will, Rayaleh, Houssein & Awaleh, Djama G., 2024, Notable records and observations of four passerines in Djibouti, 2020, Bulletin of the British Ornithologists’ Club 144 (1), pp. 42-48 : 45

GREEN-WINGED PYTILIA Pytilia melba

The Green-winged Pytilia known from the Dittilou and Goula (11 o 57’N, 43 o 00’E; 565 m) areas of Djibouti was described as a new subspecies, P. m. flavicaudata by Welch & Welch (1988), based on observations and four photographs of three different males, and one female (not photographed) near Goula, but this designation was challenged by Payne (1989). Although this plumage is well known to local people (HR pers. obs.), until now no voucher specimens have been available. One female was mist-netted on 19 March 2020 at Dittilou. This specimen, USNM 664520, is similar to the female illustrated in Payne (2010), presumably based on the description in Welch & Welch (1988: 70). The male plumage was also illustrated in Welch & Welch (1998) and Redman et al. (2016). Photographs of male P. melba submitted to eBird from the Rahhle Valley Ecotourism Campsite near Assamo, Djibouti, involve P. m. jessei, based on the grey lores, red rump, and orange-red chin and throat (Payne 2020). A thorough taxonomic evaluation of this species is now being conducted by us and will include molecular analysis to determine the status of our specimen.