The Waxbill is a passerine bird in the Estrildidae family. Also known as mandarin (Pernambuco), biquinho (Rio de Janeiro), kiss-de-girl (Minas Gerais), common waxbill, tin beak (Santa Catarina and south of Piauí), bombeirinho, beijinho -de-moça (Espírito Santo), fire-billed (Bahia) and pencil-billed (Paraíba). Currently, there are those who call it a lycra beak, a corruption of its best known name. It is an exotic species, from the southern region of Africa and introduced in Brazil by slave ships during the reign of D. Pedro I. Reintroduced in the interior of São Paulo in the second half of the 19th century, it must have been taken to other states by man. , because, due to its reduced flight capacity, its distribution is less spontaneous than that of the sparrow.

Scientific name
Its scientific name means: (uncertain origin) Estrilda = Estrela; specific name for this bird species; and (origin uncertain) of the (German/Dutch) astrild = generic term for this specific African bird. ⇒ Sealing tip.