Shaft-tailed whydah

Last updated

Shaft-tailed whydah
Whydah Shaft-tailed 2007 0107 1225 15AA.jpg
Male in breeding plumage
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Viduidae
Genus: Vidua
Species:
V. regia
Binomial name
Vidua regia
(Linnaeus, 1766)
Synonyms

Emberiza regiaLinnaeus, 1766

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.

Contents

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 violet-eared waxbill. The diet consists mainly of seeds.

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.

Taxonomy

In 1760 the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson included a description of the shaft-tailed whydah in his Ornithologie based on a specimen collected from the African coast. He used the French name La veuve de la côte d'Afrique and the Latin Vidua Riparia Africana. [2] Although Brisson coined Latin names, these do not conform to the binomial system and are not recognised by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature. [3] When in 1766 the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus updated his Systema Naturae for the twelfth edition, he added 240 species that had been previously described by Brisson. [3] One of these was the shaft-tailed whydah. Linnaeus included a brief description, coined the binomial name Emberiza regia and cited Brisson's work. [4] The specific name regia is from the Latin regius "royal". [5] This species is now placed in the genus Vidua that was introduced by the French naturalist Georges Cuvier in 1816. [6]

Related Research Articles

Palmchat Species of bird endemic to Hispaniola

The palmchat is a small, long-tailed passerine bird, the only species in the genus Dulus and the family Dulidae endemic to the Caribbean island of Hispaniola. It is related to the waxwings, family Bombycillidae. Its name reflects its strong association with palms for feeding, roosting, and nesting.

Olive-backed sunbird Species of bird

The olive-backed sunbird, also known as the yellow-bellied sunbird, is a species of sunbird found from Southern Asia to Australia.

African grey hornbill Species of bird

The African grey hornbill is a member of the hornbill family of tropical near-passerine birds found in the Old World. It is a widespread and common resident breeder in much of Sub-Saharan Africa and into Arabia. The African grey hornbill has escaped or been deliberately released in to Florida, USA, but there is no evidence that the population is breeding and may only persist due to continuing releases or escapes.

Yellow-crowned gonolek Species of bird

The yellow-crowned gonolek, also known as the common gonolek, is a medium-sized passerine bird in the bushshrike family. It is a common resident breeding bird in equatorial Africa from Senegal and Democratic Republic of Congo east to Ethiopia. It is a skulking bird and frequents dense undergrowth in forests and other wooded habitats. The nest is a cup structure in a bush or tree in which two eggs are laid.

Olive bee-eater Species of bird

The olive bee-eater or Madagascar bee-eater is a near passerine bee-eater species in the genus Merops. It is native to the southern half of Africa where it is present in Angola; Botswana; Burundi; Comoros; Democratic Republic of the Congo; Djibouti; Eritrea; Ethiopia; Kenya; Madagascar; Malawi; Mayotte; Mozambique; Namibia; Rwanda; Somalia; South Sudan; Sudan; Tanzania; Uganda; Zambia; Zimbabwe. It is a common species with a wide range so the International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated their conservation status as "least concern".

Namaqua dove Species of bird

The Namaqua dove is a small pigeon. It is the only species in the genus Oena. It is found over much of Sub-Saharan Africa as well as Arabia and Madagascar.

Black-tailed tityra Species of bird

The black-tailed tityra is a medium-sized passerine bird of tropical South America. The tityras have been placed in the cotinga or the tyrant flycatcher families by various authors. But the weight of evidence strongly suggest they and their closest relatives are better separated as Tityridae; the AOU for example advocates this separation.

Grey-capped greenfinch Species of bird

The grey-capped greenfinch or Oriental greenfinch is a small passerine bird in the finch family Fringillidae that breeds in broadleaf and conifer woodlands of the East Palearctic.

Cape weaver Species of bird

The Cape weaver is a species of bird in the weaver family, Ploceidae, found in southern Africa.

Red fody Species of bird

The red fody, also known as the Madagascar fody in Madagascar, red cardinal fody in Mauritius, or common fody, is a small bird native to Madagascar and introduced to various other islands in the Indian Ocean. It is a common bird within its restricted range, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has assessed its conservation status as being of "least concern".

Cape bunting Species of bird

The Cape bunting is a passerine bird in the bunting family Emberizidae.

Black-faced munia Species of bird

The black-faced munia is a species of estrildid finch found in Indonesia. It occurs in a wide range of habitats including artificial landscapes, forest, grassland and savannah. It was first described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the twelfth edition of his Systema Naturae in 1766. The IUCN has evaluated the status of this bird as being of least concern.

Cape wagtail Species of bird

The Cape wagtail, also known as Wells's wagtail, is a small insectivorous bird which is widespread in southern Africa. It frequents water's edge, lawns and gardens. It is a mostly resident, territorial species, but has been known to undertake limited altitudinal migration or form flocks outside of the breeding season. Like other wagtails they are passerine birds of the family Motacillidae, which also includes the pipits and longclaws.

Slate-coloured grosbeak Species of bird

The slate-coloured grosbeak is a species of grosbeak in the family Thraupidae. Most of its range is the Amazon in South America, but it is also found in forests of the Chocó in Ecuador and Colombia, and southern Central America from Panama to Honduras.

Red-tailed vanga Species of bird

The red-tailed vanga is a species of bird in the family Vangidae. It is endemic to Madagascar.

Plum-throated cotinga Species of bird

The plum-throated cotinga is a species of bird in the family Cotingidae. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest, subtropical or tropical swamps, and heavily degraded former forest.

Crested drongo Species of bird

The crested drongo is a passerine bird in the family Dicruridae. It is black with a bluish-green sheen, a distinctive crest on the forehead and a forked tail. There are two subspecies; D. f. forficatus is endemic to Madagascar and D. f. potior, which is larger, is found on the Comoro Islands. Its habitat is lowland forests, both dry and humid, and open savannah country. It is a common bird and the IUCN has listed it as "least concern".

Rufous vanga Species of bird

The rufous vanga is a species of bird in the family Vangidae. It is monotypic within the genus Schetba. It is endemic to Madagascar, where its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forest and subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest.

Fulvous-crested tanager Species of bird

The fulvous-crested tanager is a species of bird in the family Thraupidae, the tanagers.

Hook-billed vanga Species of bird

The hook-billed vanga is a species of bird in the family Vangidae. It is endemic to Madagascar. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forest, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest, and subtropical or tropical moist montane forest.

References

  1. ↑ BirdLife International (2016). "Vidua regia". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2016: e.T22719982A94654330. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22719982A94654330.en . Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  2. ↑ Brisson, Mathurin Jacques (1760). Ornithologie, ou, Méthode contenant la division des oiseaux en ordres, sections, genres, especes & leurs variétés (in French and Latin). Vol. 3. Paris: Jean-Baptiste Bauche. pp. 129-, Plate 9 fig 1. The two stars (**) at the start of the section indicates that Brisson based his description on the examination of a specimen.
  3. 1 2 Allen, J.A. (1910). "Collation of Brisson's genera of birds with those of Linnaeus". Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. 28: 317–335. hdl:2246/678.
  4. ↑ Linnaeus, Carl (1766). Systema naturae : per regna tria natura, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis (in Latin). Vol. 1, Part 1 (12th ed.). Holmiae (Stockholm): Laurentii Salvii. p. 313.
  5. ↑ Jobling, J.A. (2018). del Hoyo, J.; Elliott, A.; Sargatal, J.; Christie, D.A.; de Juana, E. (eds.). "Key to Scientific Names in Ornithology". Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions. Retrieved 2 May 2018.
  6. ↑ Cuvier, Georges (1816). Le Règne animal distribué d'après son organisation : pour servir de base a l'histoire naturelle des animaux et d'introduction a l'anatomie comparée (in French). Vol. 1. Paris: Déterville. pp. 388–389.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.