Spermestes is a genus of small seed-eating birds in the family Estrildidae. They are distributed across Sub-Saharan Africa.
The genus Spermestes was introduced in 1837 by the English naturalist William John Swainson to accommodate the bronze mannikin.[1] The name combines the Ancient Greek sperma meaning "seed" and -estēs meaning "-eater".[2]
Based on the results of a molecular phylogenetic study published in 2020, this genus was resurrected for a clade of species that were formerly assigned to the genera Lonchura and Odontospiza.[3][4]
The genus contains four species:[4]
Spermestes is a genus of small seed-eating birds in the family Estrildidae. They are distributed across Sub-Saharan Africa.