---
title: "Black-and-white Mannikin"
description: "Spermestes bicolor — Vogels. The black-and-white mannikin (Spermestes bicolor) also black-and-white munia or red-backed mannikin, is a species of estrildid finch, widely present throughout sub-Saharan Africa."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/nl/animal/black-and-white-mannikin
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Black-and-white Mannikin

> Spermestes bicolor — Vogels. The black-and-white mannikin (Spermestes bicolor) also black-and-white munia or red-backed mannikin, is a species of estrildid finch, widely present throughout sub-Saharan Africa.

- Scientific name: *Spermestes bicolor*
- Category: `birds` (Vogels)
- Habitats: `forest` (Bos), `savanna` (Savanne)
- iNaturalist observations: 1015
- Wikidata: [Q40659696](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q40659696)
- iNaturalist taxon: [145348](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/145348)

## Names

- en: Black-and-white Mannikin
- de: Glanzelsterchen
- es: Capuchino Bicolor
- fr: Capucin bicolore

## Countries with the most observations

ZA (357), TZ (93), UG (80), KE (77), GH (38), MW (38), GA (35), ZM (28), ZW (24), RW (23), MZ (17), CM (15)

## Summary

The black-and-white mannikin (Spermestes bicolor) also black-and-white munia or red-backed mannikin, is a species of estrildid finch, widely present throughout sub-Saharan Africa. It has an estimated global extent of occurrence of 4,200,000 km2 (1,600,000 sq mi).
It is found in moist savanna and subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest habitat. The status of the species is evaluated as least concern. They are seedeaters, but are known to feed on algae.
The black-and-white mannikin was formally described in 1843 by the British zoologist and collector Louis Fraser from a specimen collected near Cape Palmas in Liberia…

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black-and-white_mannikin

## Photo

![Black-and-white Mannikin](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/black-and-white-mannikin/medium.jpg)

Photo: Louis L. Lodder · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/68272081

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/black-and-white-mannikin?lang=nl` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).