Queen Whydah
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| Queen Whydah | ||||||||||||||
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| Vidua regia (Linnaeus, 1766) |
The Queen Whydah, Vidua regia also known as Shaft-tailed Whydah 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 breeding season is over, the male shed its long tail and grow olive brown female-like plumage.
The Queen Whydah is distributed to 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.
Widespread and a common species throughout its large habitat range, the Queen Whydah is evaluated as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
[edit] References
- BirdLife International (2004). Vidua regia. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 12 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern
