Shelley's Crimson-wing Cryptospiza shelleyi is an endangered species of estrildid finch found in Burundi, The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Uganda in sub-saharan Africa. It has shown population decline for the past few decades, which is possibly related to ongoing deforestation.

Identification

It is approximately 13 cm long, brightly-coloured terrestrial finch. The male Shelley's Crimson-wing has bright red crown, face and back, with contrasting black wings and tail, as well as olive-yellow underparts with warmer tones on flanks and belly. The female drabber has an olive head and some red on mantle and rump. Both sexes have bright red bills. Its voice is sharp and high-pitched with "tit tit tit" call. Rising and falling series of high-pitched "tu tutu ti ti ti".

Habitat

Shelley's Crimson-wing inhabits the closed-canopy moist forest, often in lush valley bottoms near water, as well as low secondary growth at forest edges, forest clearings and glades dominated by large herbs, bamboo thickets and the upper forest/moorland ecotone. It can be found at some parts of the mountains of the Albertine Rift, including the Itombwe Mountain, Kahuzi-Biéga National Park and mountains at the west of Lake Kivu in Democratic Republic of Congo, Nyungwe, Gishwati, Makwa and Mukura Forest in Rwanda, Bururi Forest and elsewhere in Burundi, the Rwenzori Mountains and Bwindi Impenetrable Forest in Uganda, as well as the Virunga Mountain. It is generally rare, only being common in a few threatened forests, which shows unexplained fluctuations in abundance.

Conservation measures

IUCN has proposed to investigate declines or fluctuations in Shelley's Crimson-wing population, to assess threats. This includes surveying the extent of its habitat. The species is also being conserved in protected areas, including the Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nyungwe Forest Reserve in Rwanda, and Rwenzori Mountains National Park and Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Uganda.