- any of numerous African and Asian finchlike birds of the family Ploceidae, noted for their elaborately woven nests and colonial habits.
- any small Old World passerine songbird of the chiefly African family Ploceidae, having a short thick bill and a dull plumage and building covered nests: includes the house sparrow and whydahs
- any similar bird of the family Estrilidae, of warm regions of the Old World: includes the waxbills, grassfinches, and Java sparrow
