Amandava amandava The shape of the red plum finch is very beautiful, and the feathers on the whole body are colorful and pleasing to the eye. The male's body feathers are mainly red, and scattered with many small white dots, resembling pearls, so the name "pearl bird". The entire upper body of the male summer feathers, such as the upper body from the forehead to the upper tail covert, renders vermilion red, especially the frontal base and the upper tail covert are darker and thicker, the shoulders, lower back and tail coverts have rounded white spots, the two wings are dark brown, and the upper wing coverts and the inner flight feathers have small white end spots or punctate spots. The tail is black , with white or white punctate spots on the lateral tail feathers and ends. The eyes are dark brown at the front and around the eyes, and the vermilion on the side of the head and neck has small white spots. The cheeks , throat , thorax , and flanks are also vermilion red , with small white spots in addition to the chin and upper throat , the abdomen is orange-yellow with vermilion or orange red , also embellished with white spots , and the undertail coverts are nearly black with reddish-white spots. Males become similar to females in late winter, but most males still wear summer feathers in early winter. Females have brown or ochre brown upperparts, including two winged coverts, dark brown flight feathers, and small white end spots or spots on the shoulders, winged coverts, and medial flight feathers. The upper tail feathers are embellished with vermilion, the tail is black brown, and the outer tail feathers are white at the apex. The eyes are black at the front and around the eyes, and the sides of the head are grayish brown. The chin is yellowish white , the throat , thorax , and body sides are grey or pale brown , and the rest of the underparts are pale orange.
China is distributed in Yunnan, Guizhou, Hainan and other places in China
Its natural habitats include subtropical or tropical (lowland) moist sparse shrublands, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, arable land, wetlands, plantations, and subtropical or tropical (lowland) savannahs. Its natural habitats are savanna slopes, shrublands and grasses in low mountains, hilly plains, river valleys and lakes below 1500 m above sea level, as well as in reed swamps, orchards, villages and farmlands.
Resident birds. They move in flocks, usually in small flocks of a dozen to twenty or so, in large flocks of dozens or even hundreds in autumn and winter, and sometimes in groups with other small birds. It is mostly in reeds, tall grasses and shrublands, and during the ripe season of grain, it often flies into the farmland in groups to move and forage for food. In the event of interference, all the individuals 'exhale' and fly, close to each other, forming a tight ball flying in the air, the wings flapping fast and powerful, flying quickly, usually flying directly to a nearby tree or reed bush, and making a sharp cry, which sounds like 'teei' or 'tsi-tsi'. At night, they spend the night in reeds or tall grasses, and the night habitat is relatively fixed. Jumping on the top of reeds or grasses during the day to feed, climbing edges to peck on reed stems or grass stems, and sometimes down to the ground to feed. It feeds mainly on plant seeds and the like.
Most of the eggs are laid in September and October, and the nest is on the branches of shrubs covered by grass or on the stems of reeds, and the nest is woven from blades of grass, grass stems, flower stalks, fine dry grass, etc., and the nest is covered with soft plant fibers. The nest is jointly undertaken by the male and female parent birds, mainly the female birds, the male birds usually collect grass blades, grass stems and other nest materials for the female birds, and the female birds build nests. The nest is oval or rounded in shape, with a short entrance and exit, and a soft velvet padded inside, sometimes with feathers. 6-8 eggs are laid per clutch, the eggs are white,