Shaft-tailed Whydah

The Shaft-tailed Whydah is distributed in open habitats and grasslands of Southern Africa, from south Angola to south Mozambique. It is a brood parasite to the Common Grenadier. The diet consists mainly of seeds.

The Shaft-tailed Whydah is classified as Least Concern. Does not qualify for a more at risk category. Widespread and abundant taxa are included in this category.

Shaft-tailed Whydah - Adult male in breeding plumage Photographer More

The Shaft-tailed Whydah or Queen Whydah, Vidua regia, is a small, sparrow-like bird in the genus Vidua. During the breeding season the male has black crown and upper body plumage, golden breast and four elongated black tail shaft feathers with expanded tips. After the breeding season is over, the male sheds its long tail and grows olive brown female-like plumage. The Shaft-tailed Whydah is distributed in open habitats and grasslands of Southern Africa, from south Angola to south Mozambique. More

Distribution of Shaft-tailed whydah in southern Africa, based on statistical smoothing of the records from first SA Bird Atlas Project (© Animal Demography unit, University of Cape Town; smoothing by Birgit Erni and Francesca Little). Colours range from dark blue (most common) through to yellow (least common). See here for the latest distribution from the SABAP2. Movements and migrations Nomadic in the non-breeding season, especially in the arid west where water is scarce. More

Shaft-tailed Whydah photographed in the Kalahari Photo taken on: April 05th, 2010 Keywords: africa african bird birds ivdua kalahari queen regia shaft south tailed whydah Categories: - Animals > Birds  Sign up and download this image for as low as as $0.20 for high resolution. More

Shaft-tailed Whydah Vidua regis - http://www.naturalia.org/ZOO/AN_CIELO/e_vedova.html (Good) Image + text numbers Number of bird species: 20 Fatbirder Logo back to the top of this page This site was last updated on Wednesday, 21st April 2010. More

In the Shaft-tailed Whydah, the end of each of the four central rectrices, pairs T1 and T2, is flared in a "flag" up to 6 mm broad, most of the rest of the feather having just a narrow vane 1 mm wide on each side of the rachis. The central rectrices of the breeding male Straw-tailed Whydah are narrow, just 1-2 mm broad, from the base to the tip, the narrow vanes projecting from the stiff yellow rachis. More

Did you know that sometimes the shaft-tailed Whydah removes or eats the eggs of the host, before laying their own eggs? Previous Next Your are visiters © 2004-2010 Shanghai Zoo. All rights Reserved. More

picture of the Shaft-tailed Whydah on page 1072. The Shaft-tailed Whydah belongs to the family of birds classified as Viduidae. According to the Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology the Shaft-tailed Whydah is also known by these other names: Shaft-tailed Widow,Queen Whydah. In the previous edition of Roberts (ie 6th edition) the Shaft-tailed Whydah was called the The map of the Kruger you see on this page shows the areas (coloured orange) where this bird has been identified. More

shaft-tailed whydah, also known as the queen whydah and in 1895 as the shaft-tailed bunting. The male grows four long tail feathers during the breeding season. *Strikethrough security feature will not appear on the actual U.S. postage. Loading High Resolution...Loading High Resolution...Loading High Resolution...Loading High Resolution...Loading High Resolution...Loading High Resolution...Loading High Resolution...Loading High Resolution...Loading High Resolution... More