Beautiful red head and chest on male Crimson Seedcracker birds for sale (Pyrenestes sanguineus), make this common species of estlildid finch found in Western Africa, a stunning addition to your aviary.  Natural habitat includes freshwater swamp-forest, tidal creeks, brushy growth along streams, low dense vegetation, scrub near rice fields, ponds in logged forest, and wet sedge (Cyperaceae) in open forest. Male has crimson-red on head and neck down onto breast and flanks. Red uppertail-coverts, central rectrices and outer edges of lateral rectrices. The rest of it’s plumage is brown. It has a thick black bill and brown legs. Females have red on most of their head and throat, and from rump to tail, with variable red flecking on the sides of their neck and breast. The rest of her plumage are more tawny-brown with blackish brown on wings and tawny edges of coverts.

Geography: Gambia, S Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, SW Mali, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Ivory Coast.

Size / Weight: 5.75″ / 16·9-26·6 g

Song / Call:  The call is a sharp “zeet,” while the song is described as a melodious warble, sometimes given during flight.

Lifespan: 5 to 8 years

Sexing:  Red coloring is more prominent in males.

Temperament:  Crimson seedcracks are a shy species usually found in pairs or small groups who will disappear in the undergrowth at the slightest sign of danger. They do not fly often but stay low to the ground in or near low bushes. They are solitary birds, but are sometimes seen together with others while searching for food.

Breeding:  Courting male displays on perch, holding a long stem in his bill while hopping up and down. Also displays on the ground with grass in bill while turning in a circle. Both male and female hop up and down. In sexual flight, the female flies in irregular and undulating circles 50 m in diameter, then back to swamp while the male follows her and sings. Crimson seedcrackers build nests in a ball-shaped structure with a side entrance, made from dry fronds of ferns, dead leaves or a pile of dead reeds. Nests are llined with soft grass-heads, sited 1–3 m above water level or ground, under dense canopy of creepers and leaves. Clutches are 3–4 eggs with incubation by both sexes for a period 16 days

Diet: Seeds of grass and other plants, mostly sedge (reed, papyrus, carex) with triangular stems and hard sharp edges, Paddy Rice and fruit. Insects should be given during the breeding season. Crimson seedcrackers feed on or near the ground.

DNA Testing:

If there is no gender option listed for a bird on our website, that particular species is ‘monomorphic’, which means we’re unable to determine gender without purchasing DNA testing. DNA testing is an additional $149 per bird to guarantee preferred gender. DNA testing may add an additional 3-6 plus weeks to estimated delivery time to allow for gender results. See our FAQs for more info.