One of my favorite birds, I see daily in the yard here is the AFRICAN SILVERBILL. A bird as common as sparrows at home. It is a small estrildid finch. These small passerines are not true finches as we know them, like our purple finch, goldfinch, etc. but are rather birds of the Old World tropics and Australasia. Other birds I see here that are in this category are munias and mannikins.
It is by nature a bird of dry country- which is why it thrives in Hawaii, yet lives by the dozens in the lush yard here.
It is a tame bird, which is why it lets me pick it up when it flies into the sunroom and can't find its way out. It is also sociable, living in large flocks, which accounts for the great numbers found in this yard.
They feed mainly on grass seeds but I also see them with the fluffy seed masses that fall from the ornamental palm trees in the yard.
