Ann & Steve Toon / Blue waxbills (Uraeginthus angolensi) and redbilled firefinches (Lagonosticta senegala) at water, Zimanga private game reserve, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

Ann & Steve Toon / Red-billed firefinch (Lagonosticta senegala), Zimanga private game reserve, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

Ann & Steve Toon / Red-billed firefinch (Lagonosticta senegala), Zimanga private game reserve, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

Martin Willis / Crimson Finch (Neochmia phaeton) male, Kimberley, Western Australia, Australia

Roger Powell / Female crimson finch (Neochmia phaeton) in nesting vegetation. Fogg Dam, Northern Territory, Australia

Martin Willis / Crimson Finch (Neochmia phaeton), Mount Isa, Queensland, Australia

Dong Lei / Streaked rosefinch (Carpodacus rubicilloides ) Serxu, Shiqu county, Sichuan Province, Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, China. August 2010.

Juergen Freund / Crimson finch (Neochmia phaeton) on Lotus lilies, Fogg Dam, Northern Territory, Australia.

Martin Willis / Crimson Finch (Neochmia phaeton) male, Kununurra, Kimberley, Western Australia, Australia

Martin Willis / Crimson Finch (Neochmia phaeton) male, Kununurra, Kimberley, Western Australia, Australia

Dong Lei / Streaked rosefinch (Carpodacus rubicilloides) on ground, Kawakarpo Mountain, Meri Snow Mountain National Park, Yunnan Province, China, January.

Markus Varesvuo / Female Crimson-winged Finch (Rhodopechys sanguinea) feeding in snow, Morocco, February

Markus Varesvuo / Female Crimson-winged finch (Rhodopechys sanguinea) perched in snow, Morocco, February

Loic Poidevin / Redbilled Firefinch (Lagonosticta senegala) male and female on a branch, Baringo Lake, Kenya.

Dong Lei / Streaked rosefinch (Carpodacus rubicilloides) at edge of puddle, Dacocheng City, Sichuan Province, Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, China, August.

Greg Oakley / Crimson Finch (Neochmia phaeton) male, Queensland, Australia

David Tipling / Trumpeter Finch (Rhodopechys githaginea) vagrant to Cley, Norfolk, UK, June

Mike Potts / Crimson Finch (Neochmia phaeton) male feeding on seeds at trackside, Kununurra, Western Australia, June

Mike Potts / Crimson Finch (Neochmia phaeton) male in Pandanus scrub, Kununurra, Western Australia, June

Mike Potts / Crimson Finch (Neochmia phaeton) male and female in Pandanus scrub, Kununurra, Western Australia, June

Marie Read / Crimson Finch (Neochmia phaeton) male perching. Fogg Dam Conservation Area, near Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia, September.

Steven David Miller / Crimson finch (Neochmia phaeton) bathing, Lake Kununurra, Western Australia

Ralph Martin/ BIA / African Crimson-winged Finch (Rhodopechys alienus), Morocco

Greg Oakley/ BIA / Crimson Finch (Neochmia phaeton), Queensland, Australia

Mathias Schaef/ BIA / Crimson-winged Finch (Rhodopechys sanguinea), Morocco

Bruce Thomson / Crimson finch (Neochmia phaeton) female, perched in tree in riverine forest, Ingham, Queensland, Australia.

Bruce Thomson / Crimson finch (Neochmia phaeton) female, perched on branch in riverine forest, Ingham, Queensland, Australia.

Etienne Littlefair / Crimson finch (Neochmia phaeton) male, perched on tree stump, Corroboree billabong, Northern Territory, Australia.

Neil Aldridge / Blue waxbill (Uraeginthus angolensis) perched on acacia tree (Acacia) and vocalising, red-billed firefinch (Lagonosticta senegala) enters frame and joins the blue waxbill (Uraeginthus angolensis) on t...

Martin Willis / Crimson Finch (Neochmia phaeton), Lakefield National Park, Queensland, Australia

Martin Willis / Crimson Finch (Neochmia phaeton), Lakefield National Park, Queensland, Australia

Bruce Thomson / Crimson finch (Neochmia phaeton) perched in low shrubs in wetland, Ingham, Queensland, Australia.

Etienne Littlefair / Crimson finch (Neochmia phaeton), feeding on grass seeds, Darwin, Australia, August.

Bernard Castelein / Red-billed firefinch (Lagonosticta senegala) carrying leaf nesting material in beak. Tentaba, Gambia.