Yellow-mantled Widowbird

Yellow-mantled Widowbird
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Ploceidae
Genus:	Euplectes
Species:	E. macroura
Binomial name
*Euplectes macroura* (Gmelin, 1789)

The Yellow-mantled Widowbird (Euplectes macroura) is a species of bird in the Ploceidae family. It is the type species of the Euplectes genus, originally named from the city of Ouidah in Benin. Nowadays the name Whydah (i.e. Ouidah) is however applied to some species in the Viduidae.

Males are larger than females and acquire longer tails and striking black and golden yellow plumages in the breeding season. The mantle colour is either golden yellow, or in the case of the northeastern race, E. m. macrocercus, black. The yellow shoulders persist in all male plumages, whether breeding or non-breeding.^[1]

Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical seasonally wet or flooded lowland grassland. It is widely distributed in Africa, and is found in Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

The distinct race E. m. macrocercus occurs in Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda.^[1]

References

^ ^a ^b Sinclair, I. & Ryan P. (2010). Birds of African south of the Sahara. Cape Town: Struik Nature. ISBN 978-1-77007-623-5.

BirdLife International 2004. Euplectes macroura. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 25 July 2007.

Family: Ploceidae

Genus	Species

Bubalornis	White-billed Buffalo Weaver (B. albirostris) • Red-billed Buffalo Weaver (B. niger)

Dinemellia	White-headed Buffalo Weaver (D. dinemelli)

Sporopipes	Speckle-fronted Weaver (S. frontalis) • Scaly-feathered Weaver (S. squamifrons)

Plocepasser	White-browed Sparrow-Weaver (P. mahali) • Chestnut-crowned Sparrow-Weaver (P. superciliosus) • Chestnut-backed Sparrow-Weaver (P. rufoscapulatus) • Donaldson Smith's Sparrow-Weaver (P. donaldsoni)

Histurgops	Rufous-tailed Weaver (H. ruficauda)

Pseudonigrita	Grey-capped Social Weaver (P. arnaudi) • Black-capped Social Weaver (P. cabanisi)

Philetairus	Sociable Weaver (P. socius)

Ploceus	Compact Weaver (P. superciliosus) • Black-chinned Weaver (P. nigrimentus) • Baglafecht Weaver (P. baglafecht) • Bertram's Weaver (P. bertrandi) • Slender-billed Weaver (P. pelzelni) • Loango Weaver (P. subpersonatus) • Little Weaver (P. luteolus) • Lesser Masked Weaver (P. intermedius) • Spectacled Weaver (P. ocularis) • Bannerman's Weaver (P. bannermani) • Bates's Weaver (P. batesi) • Black-necked Weaver (P. nigricollis) • Black-billed Weaver (P. melanogaster) • Strange Weaver (P. alienus) • Bocage's Weaver (P. temporalis) • Cape Weaver (P. capensis) • Eastern Golden Weaver (P. subaureus) • Holub's Golden Weaver (P. xanthops) • Príncipe Weaver (Ploceus princeps) • Orange Weaver (P. aurantius) • Golden Palm Weaver (P. bojeri) • Taveta Weaver (P. castaneiceps) • Southern Brown-throated Weaver (P. xanthopterus) • Northern Brown-throated Weaver (P. castanops) • Kilombero Weaver (P. burnieri) • Rüppell's Weaver or Rueppell's Weaver (P. galbula) • Heuglin's Masked Weaver (P. heuglini) • Northern Masked Weaver (P. taeniopterus) • Vitelline Masked Weaver (P. vitellinus) • Southern Masked Weaver (P. velatus) • Katanga Masked Weaver Ploceus katangae • Lufira Masked Weaver (P. ruweti) • Tanzanian Masked Weaver (P. reichardi) • Village Weaver (P. cucullatus) • Giant Weaver (P. grandis) • Speke's Weaver (P. spekei) • Fox's Weaver (P. spekeoides) • Vieillot's Black Weaver (P. nigerrimus) • Weyns's Weaver (P. weynsi) • Clarke's Weaver (P. golandi) • Black-headed Weaver (P. melanocephalus) • Juba Weaver (P. dichrocephalus) • Golden-backed Weaver (P. jacksoni) • Cinnamon Weaver (P. badius) • Chestnut Weaver (P. rubiginosus) • Golden-naped Weaver (P. aureonucha) • Yellow-mantled Weaver (P. tricolor) • Maxwell's Black Weaver (P. albinucha) • Nelicourvi Weaver (P. nelicourvi) • Sakalava Weaver (P. sakalava) • Streaked Weaver (P. manyar) • Baya Weaver (P. philippinus) • Asian Golden Weaver (P. hypoxanthus) • Finn's Weaver (P. megarhynchus) • Black-breasted Weaver (P. benghalensis) • Dark-backed Weaver (P. bicolor) • Preuss's Weaver (P. preussi) • Yellow-capped Weaver (P. dorsomaculatus) • Usambara Weaver (P. nicolli) • Olive-headed Weaver (P. olivaceiceps) • Brown-capped Weaver (P. insignis) • Bar-winged Weaver (P. angolensis) • São Tomé Weaver (P. sanctithomae) • Yellow-legged Weaver (P. flavipes)

Pachyphantes	Compact Weaver (P. superciliosus)

Malimbus	Red-crowned Malimbe (M. coronatus) • Cassin's Malimbe (M. cassini) • Gola Malimbe (M. ballmanni) • Rachel's Malimbe (M. racheliae) • Red-vented Malimbe (M. scutatus) • Ibadan Malimbe (M. ibadanensis) • Red-bellied Malimbe (M. erythrogaster) • Blue-billed Malimbe (M. nitens) • Crested Malimbe (M. malimbicus) • Red-headed Malimbe (M. rubricollis)

Anaplectes	Red-headed Weaver (A. rubriceps)

Brachycope	Bob-tailed Weaver (B. anomala)

Quelea	Cardinal Quelea (Q. cardinalis) • Red-headed Quelea (Q. erythrops) • Red-billed Quelea (Q. quelea)

Foudia	Red Fody (F. madagascariensis) • Red-headed Fody (Foudia eminentissima) (Comoro Fody and Aldabra Fody if species spilt) • Forest Fody (F. omissa) • Mauritius Fody (F. rubra) • Seychelles Fody (F. sechellarum) • Rodrigues Fody (F. flavicans)

Euplectes	Yellow-crowned Bishop (E. afer) • Fire-fronted Bishop (E. diadematus) • Black Bishop (E. gierowii) • Black-winged Red Bishop (E. hordeaceus) • Northern Red Bishop or Orange Bishop (E. franciscanus) • Southern Red Bishop or Red Bishop (E. orix) • Zanzibar Red Bishop (E. nigroventris) • Golden-backed Bishop (E. aureus) • Yellow Bishop (E. capensis) • Fan-tailed Widowbird (E. axillaris) • Yellow-mantled Widowbird (E. macroura) • White-winged Widowbird (E. albonotatus) • Red-collared Widowbird (E. ardens) • Marsh Widowbird (E. hartlaubi) • Montane Widowbird (E. psammacromius) • Long-tailed Widowbird (E. progne) • Jackson's Widowbird (E. jacksoni)

Anomalospiza	Cuckoo Finch also called Parasitic Weaver (A. imberbis) (probably belongs in Viduidae)

Amblyospiza	Thick-billed Weaver (A. albifrons)