White-winged Widowbird ( Euplectes albonotatus, family: Ploceidae)
Birds & Birding in the Kruger National Park South Africa. In Roberts 6 this bird was called White-winged Widow
The White-winged Widowbird (Latin name Euplectes albonotatus) is
described in Roberts Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition. This bird
has a unique Roberts number of 829 and you will find a full description
of this bird on page 1033 also a picture of the White-winged Widowbird
on page 1025. The White-winged Widowbird belongs to the family of birds
classified as Ploceidae. According to the Percy FitzPatrick Institute of
African Ornithology the White-winged Widowbird is also known by these
other names: White-winged Whydah.
In the previous edition of Roberts (ie 6th edition) the White-winged Widowbird was called the White-winged Widow
The map of the Kruger you see on this page shows the areas (coloured orange) where this bird has been identified. The basic information was provided by the Avian Demographic Unit based at UCT and I created the maps from that information ... the green dots show the locations of the various Kruger National Park Rest Camps
The White-winged Widowbird is neither Endemic or near Endemic to the Kruger National Park.
In terms of distribution of the White-winged Widowbird in the Kruger National Park you may not see it in all areas. White-winged Widowbird : see above distribution map.
Identification assistance for this avian species ...
One of the first indicators to take note of when trying to identify a bird is it relative size. For example how big is the bird compared to a well known familiar bird. The White-winged Widowbird is a small bird about the size of a house sparrow. Do not take this relative indicator as anything other than a rough easy to remember indicator. It is not a accurate visualization. The height of the White-winged Widowbird is about 15 cms and its weight is about 23 gms
You will find that the male White-winged Widowbird plumage and colours are different to that of the female White-winged Widowbird
- Head is black.
- Eye is brown.
- Bill is black.
- Throat is black.
- Back is black.
- Legs are brown.
This bird has normally proportioned leg length.
Main diet items for this bird ...
The White-winged Widowbird feeds on the ground, and on the wing mainly
Invertebrates
Seeds
Breeding and nesting habits for this bird ...
The White-winged Widowbird takes on more than a single mate (it is bigamous).
The nesting habit of White-winged Widowbird is to create the nest in branches of a tree or shrub. The bird lays eggs which are green in colour and number between 2 to 5
Habitat and flocking behaviour for this bird ...
The preferred habitats for White-winged Widowbird are: grasslands
You will normally see the White-winged Widowbird in flocks.
Names of this avian species in other languages ...
Xhosa ... Unknown
Zulu ... iNtakansinsi
Afrikaans ...Witvlerkflap
German ... Spiegelwida
Portuguese ... Viva-d'asa-branca
French ... Euplecte paules blanches
Dutch ... Spiegelwidavink
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For in-depth birding information please refer to these authoritative avian references ...
Robert's 7th edition number ... 829
The main reference source for this data was "Roberts - Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition" . Other references were "Newmans Birds of the Kruger Park" by Keith Newman published circa 1980 . Names in foreign languages were obtained from the Percy Fitzpatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town website , www.fitzpatrick.uct.ac.za
