Africa Wild Bird Book

[H. erectus]

865. Purple Indigobird Vidua purpurascens (Witpootblouvinkie)
Order: Passeriformes. Family: Viduidae

Purple Indigobird.jpg (51.08 KiB) Viewed 1510 times

Description
10-11 cm, 12-15 g. A smallish variety of Indigobirds. The combination of white or pinkish white bill, legs and feet, distinguish both male or female from other Indigobirds. Sexes differ seasonally.
Breeding male uniform black, with purple gloss in appropriate light; wings and tail dark brown. White or pale bill and whitish or pale pink legs and feet. The eyes are dark brown.
Purple Indigobirds either have whitish or pinkish bills and legs, but bill and legs always appear the same colour!
Female and nonbreeding male: Head boldly striped rufous-buff and black; back blackish brown, scaled deep rufous; off-white to buff below, washed greyish on breast. The bill is greyish and the feet and legs light pinkish grey.
Immature: Above scaled brighter rufous than female; below dark tawny; crown plain blackish.
Similar species: Could be confused with Dusky Indigobirds from the North.
The pale feet and legs distinguish this species from most other indigobirds, but in parts of Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Malawi and Zambia, the range overlaps with that of the northern race of the Dusky Indigobird Vidua funerea, which also has pale legs and feet. In these areas the two species cannot be distinguished in the field, other than by their song. The song of the Purple Indigobird includes imitations of the Jameson's Firefinch (its host), especially its fee whistle and purr alarm call.
Purple Indigobirds are known to either have whitish or pinkish bills and legs, whereas Dusky will show a difference between the bill and leg colour. Dusky's legs will always look red or orange and never pale pink.

Distributiom
Although it occupies isolated patches of Tanzania and Zambia, the bulk of its population occurs from Angola to Zambia, Malawi and southern Africa. Here it is uncommon to locally common in Zimbabwe, Mozambique and north-eastern South Africa, while more scarce in Botswana and Namibia.

Habitat
It generally prefers dry woodland, riverine forest, rank grass and edges of thickets and cultivated fields. Occurs in the same habitat as its host.

Diet
It mainly eats grass seeds, doing most of its foraging on bare ground, scratching the soil with its feet to uncover seeds.

Breeding
Polygynous brood parasite, with each male defending a territory centered on a prominent perch, which is used for calling and displaying. Intruders, which can be the same species or a different indigobird, are aggressively chased out of the territory by the male. Its sole host is the Jameson's Firefinch, it has not been recorded to parasitise or mimic any other species. Egg-laying season is from January-May. It lays one egg per day in sets of 3-4, taking a few days break in between sets. It is thought that the chick is reared alongside Jameson's firefinch young, as fledglings of the two species have been recorded together in family groups.

Call
Mimics chirping calls in the presence of female Shaft-tailed Whydahs. The song of the Purple Indigobird includes imitations of the Jameson's Firefinch (its host), especially its fee whistle and purr alarm call. Listen to Bird Call.

Status
Fairly common resident; ever present in tree tops though distantiated in flocks of other species!

[H. erectus]

865. Purple Indigobird Vidua purpurascens


Breeding male, Gauteng

© pooky
Kruger National Park

Links:
Species text Sabap1: http://sabap2.adu.org.za/docs/sabap1/865.pdf
Sabap2: http://sabap2.adu.org.za/spp_summary.ph ... &section=3
Retaining a Sense of Identity, in: Rael Loon, Hélène Loon. Sasol Birds: The Inside Story
indigobirds.com (Boston University)
Identification, in: Paul A. Johnsgard Foundation. The Avian Brood Parasites: Deception at the Nest

[nan]

864. Dusky Indigobird (formerly known as Black Widowfinch) Vidua funerea (Gewone Blouvinkie)
Order: Passeriformes. Family: Viduidae

Dusky Indigobird.jpg (29.3 KiB) Viewed 1456 times

Description
Length 11-12 cm, weight 15 g.
Adult breeding male: Dull bluish or greenish black; Tail and flight feathers blackish brown. Eyes dark brown, bill white or pale pink, legs and feet orange-red.The very similar Village indigobird has a red beak. The dull black color as opposed to a more shiny color of the other Indigobirds is distictive.
Adult non-breeding male and adult female: Head with bold buff and dark brown stripes and back buff, streaked black. Greyish white below, darker on breast and flanks, and have an off-white head striped with black. The bill is off-white and the legs and feet are red or orange-red. Bill and legs differ in colouration.
Juvenile are mottled with black and buff above.
Similar species: Purple Indigobirds are known to either have whitish or pinkish bills and legs, whereas Dusky will show a difference between the bill and leg colour. Dusky's legs will always look red or orange and never pale pink.

Distribution
Although it has an isolated population in Nigeria and Cameroon, the bulk of its population occurs in patches from Kenya through Tanzania, Malawi and Zambia to southern Africa. Here it is locally common in Zimbabwe's eastern highlands and adjacent Mozambique, extending south to eastern South Africa, from Limpopo Province to the Eastern Cape.

Taxonomy
Vidua funerea has two subspecies:
V. f. funerea from eastern South Africa, Swaziland, Lesotho and Mozambique south of the Limpopo River; legs and feet orange-red in adult breeding male and pale purplish grey or pale orange in female. The southern race can be distiguished from other Indigobirds by the pale bill and orange-red legs and feet.
V. f. nigerrima from eastern Zimbabwe northwards; slightly smaller than the nominate race; the legs and feet are pale purple in both sexes.

Habitat
Forest edge, thornveld, riverine scrub, and suburbia.

Diet
Forages on bare and sparsely vegetated ground for small seeds. Takes termite aletes in flight. Females and nonbreeding males are inconspicuous, often feeding in mixed-species flocks.

Breeding
It is a polygynous brood parasite, with males defending a territory surrounding a prominent perch which it uses to display on. The only bird recorded as its host is the African firefinch (840.).
The female eats any existing eggs in the firefinch nest before laying a single one of its own, laying eggs in sets of three.

Call
A short, canary-like jingle, and a scolding chit-chit-chit. Most distinctive mimicry is the pit-pit alarm, which is repeated 1-20 times per second (slower than purr alarm of Jameson’s Firefinch). Also mimics inverted V and too-too notes along with various slurred whistles. Listen to Bird Call.

Status
Common resident.

[nan]

864. Dusky Indigobird Vidua funerea

© nan
Breeding male

© Duke

Links:
Sabap2: http://sabap2.adu.org.za/spp_summary.ph ... &section=3
Retaining a Sense of Identity, in: Rael Loon, Hélène Loon. Sasol Birds: The Inside Story
indigobirds.com (Boston University)

[Lisbeth]

860. Pin-tailed Whydah Vidua macroura (Koningrooibekkie)
Order: Passeriformes. Family: Viduidae


Male

Description
Length 12-13 cm, the tail adds another 20 cm to this. During the breeding season the males and females are very different in plumage.
Ad male breeding: Crown and lores black, forming black cap above white face and broad white nuchal collar. Mantle and back black, rump white. Tail black; central 4 rectrices narrow and greatly elongated, with considerable variation in length among males. Wings black, with white patch formed by median and lesser coverts. Underparts white, apart from black patches on sides of breast and small black chin (latter absent in some birds). Bill reddish, progressing from orange to red. Eyes dark brown. Legs and feet blackish grey.
It differs from breeding male Shaft-tailed Whydah by having white (not buff) underparts and by the lack of spatulate tips of the tail feathers.
The female and non-breeding male: Upperparts are black and brown with streaked pattern. Underparts are white with buffy-white flanks and some brown streaks on flanks, buff and black face pattern. Wings and tail are dark brown with buff and white edges. They lack the long tail extension. The bill is brownish-pinkish in female. The head is boldly striped black and buff.
Juvenile is grey-brown above and buff below. It has dark greyish bill.

Distribution
Across sub-Saharan Africa, from Senegal to Ethiopia south to southern Africa, where it is common across Zimbabwe, South Africa, patches of Mozambique and northern and eastern Botswana, while more scarce in Namibia.



Habitat
Savanna, grassland, scrub, parks and gardens.

Diet
They feed mainly on grass seeds and grain, for which they forage on the ground, and also on termites.

Breeding
Pin-tailed Whydahs are both polygynous and promiscuous. The males are aggressively territorial, and each make has a small group of females in his territory, but these females will also mate with other males who may venture into the territory while the main man is otherwise engaged. The males mating display involves a great deal of hovering in front of the female in order to display his tail, and only about one in ten of these displays will result in mating.
They are brood parasites, and do not build a nest of their own. They parasitize mainly Common Waxbills. They may also parasitise the nests of Orange-breasted waxbill, Red-billed Firefinch, Bronze Mannikin, Neddicky, Tawny-flanked Prinia. Egg-laying season in the Western Cape is from August-November, peaking from September-October, while in summer rainfall areas it is later, from November-April and peaking from December-March. The female often removes and eats any eggs laid by its host before laying one or two of its own, parasitising in sets of one nest per day over a period of 2-4 days, usually laying about 25 eggs in total in the breeding season. The chicks hatch after an incubation period of about 11 days, and are sometimes reared along with young waxbills. They eventually leave the nest after about 17-21 days, staying with the waxbill family group for at least another week or so before joining a whydah flock.

Call
The call of the Pin-tailed Whydah is a high-pitched, sustained series of swirt swee swirt and similar sounds. Displaying males call tseet-tseet-tseet. Listen to Bird Call.

Status
Common resident.

[Lisbeth]

860. Pin-tailed Whydah Vidua macroura (Koningrooibekkie)

© BluTuna
Breeding male & female, Rietvlei, Gauteng

© nan
Breeding male, Kruger National Park

© Joan

© Joan

© Joan

© Dewi
Non-breeding male

© Dewi
Non-breeding male

© Lis
Juvenile

© Pumbaa
Kruger National Park

Links:
http://sabap2.adu.org.za/docs/sabap1/860.pdf
Sabap2
Newman's birds of Southern Africa
http://www.oiseaux-birds.com/card-pin-t ... hydah.html

[Mel]

861. Shaft-tailed Whydah Vidua regia (Plystertrooikbekkie)
Order: Passeriformes. Family: Viduidae

Shaft-tailed Whydah Vidua regia.jpg (30.31 KiB) Viewed 1554 times

Description
A small bird, with a length of approximately 11 cm, but that excludes the magnificent tail that the male grows during the breeding season, which adds a further 16 cm or more to its length.
In breeding plumage the male has a black crown and upperparts, and golden underparts and collar. Its bill is red; eyes are black and legs and feet are pinkish-red. The male’s long tail consists of just four feathers, each with broadened tips.
Nonbreeding males and the females have an olive-brown plumage, thinly streaked heads, a orange-pink bill which may be brownish as well.

Distribution
The Shaft-tailed Whydah is near-endemic to southern Africa, extending marginally into southern Zambia and Angola. Its distribution is centred on the Kalahari basin. Occurring from southern Angola and south-western Zambia to Namibia (excluding the Namib Desert), Botswana, Zimbabwe and northern South Africa, while scarce in south-central Mozambique.

Habitat
Prefers savanna and dry woodland with rank grass. It occurs in dry, grassy thorn and broadleaved savanna, scrub and woodland, predominantly A. tortilis and A. erioloba savanna on Kalahari sands. Dry drainage lines and shallow ephemeral riverbeds with prominent trees 4–7 m in height and grass with medium-sized seed, such as Urochloa, Brachiaria and Panicum, seem especially attractive. Adjacent agricultural land and gardens are
also used, especially where water and seeds are present. Although this is a bird of arid and semi-arid lands, it is absent from areas with less than c. 150 mm of annual rainfall (unless permanent surface water is present) in the Namib and Kalahari.

Diet
The Shaft-tailed Whydah feeds on the ground, on small grass seeds.

Breeding
It is a polygynous brood parasite, with each male defending a territory centred on a prominent perch, which is used for calling and displaying. Its primary host is the Violet-eared waxbill and the ranges of these two species overlap almost completely. it may also parasitize the Black-faced Waxbill and Blue Waxbills opportunistically in areas where the Violet-eared Waxbill is scarce. Egg-laying season is from December-May. Breeding is probably opportunistic, and dependent on both food and host nest availability. It finds its host's nests by following one of the breeding pair or searching suitable habitats for waxbill nests, laying a single egg per day in sets of 3-4, with a few days break in between sets. The chick hatch after an incubation period of about 12-13 days and looks very similar to Violet-eared waxbill nestlings. It is often reared in a mixed brood alongside its host's young, leaving the nest after about 16-20 days.

Call
Chit-chit-chit

Status
Common, near endemic resident. Widespread and a common species throughout its large habitat range, the Shaft-tailed Whydah is evaluated as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

[Mel]

861. Shaft-tailed Whydah Vidua regia

© Mel
Breeding male, Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park

© nan
Females & male, Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park

© Dewi

© Dewi

© Sharifa & Duke

© ExFmem
Non-breeding male, Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park

Links:
Species text Sabap1
Sabap2

[Toko]

862. Long-tailed Paradise-Whydah Vidua paradisaea (Gewone Paradysvink)
Order: Passeriformes. Family: Viduidae

© Pumbaa
Breeding male

Description
12-38 cm.
During the breeding season the male molts into breeding plumage that consists of a black head and back, rusty brown breast, bright yellow nape, and buffy white abdomen with broad, elongated black tail feathers up to 36 cm long (approximately three times the length of its body). Males and females are almost indistinguishable outside of the breeding season.
Non breeding male: Brown. Black streaked head.
Female: Grey brown above with black streaks. Brownish off white head with black stripes. Pale grey breast. White belly. The bill is dark grey.
Similar species: Can not be distinguished from Broad-tailed Paradise Whydah.

Distribution
Occurs in sub-Saharan Africa from Ethiopia through Tanzania to Zambia, Malawi, Angola and southern Africa. Here it is fairly common in Zimbabwe, Mozambique, north-eastern South Africa, northern and south-eastern Botswana and northern Namibia (including the Caprivi Strip).



Habitat
Dry open savanna with scattered trees and bushes, such as Acacia, miombo (Brachystegia) and Mopane (Colosphermum mopane) woodland, also occupying adjacent fallow croplands and rural gardens.

Diet
It mainly eats the seeds of grasses supplemented with insects, doing most of its foraging on bare ground.

Breeding
It is a polygynous brood parasite, with males defending a territory of about 3 hectares within which there are multiple perches used for displaying, in an attempt to woo females. Interestingly males sometimes display to females of other species, such as Village Indigobird. Its primary host is Green-winged Pytilia, but it may also parasitise Violet-eared Waxbill nests. Egg-laying season is from January-June, peaking from February-May. The female observes the hosts for at least 15 min. before flying to the nest to investigate, after which it lays 1-3 eggs, which hatch after about 11 days of incubation. The chicks look similar to the host's chicks, even mimicking their begging and feeding behaviour. The whydah and host chicks leave the nest together after 16 days; the whydah becomes fully independent at about 27-30 days old.

Call
The call is a jumble of sparrow-like chirps chip, chip. The song is a short cheroop cherrup.

Status
Common resident with local movements.

[Toko]

862. Long-tailed Paradise-Whydah Vidua paradisaea (Gewone Paradysvink)

© Pumbaa
Tihongonyeni, Kruger National Park

© lowveldboy
Breeding male

© Pumbaa
S90, Kruger National Park, Feb 2020

© Dewi
Transitional male

© Duke
Breeding male and female, Kruger National Park

© Amoli
Kruger National Park

© Lisbeth

Links:
Sabap2: http://sabap2.adu.org.za/species_info.p ... #menu_left
Chamberlain's LBJ's