Common Waxbill

The diet consists mainly of grass and millet seeds but insects are also eaten on occasions, especially during the breeding season when more protein is needed.

They usually feed by clinging to the stems with their long, spindly claws and picking from the flower heads but they will also search for fallen seeds on the ground.

Nests may be parasitised by the pin-tailed whydah which lays its eggs in the nests of estrildid finches.