Red-collared Widowbird ( Euplectes ardens, family: Ploceidae)
Birds & Birding in the Kruger National Park South Africa. In Roberts 6 this bird was called Red-collared Widow
The Red-collared Widowbird (Latin name Euplectes ardens) is described in
Roberts Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition. This bird has a unique
Roberts number of 831 and you will find a full description of this bird
on page 1034 also a picture of the Red-collared Widowbird on page 1025.
The Red-collared Widowbird belongs to the family of birds classified as
Ploceidae. According to the Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African
Ornithology the Red-collared Widowbird is also known by these other
names: Red-naped Widowbird, Long-tailed Black Whydah, Red-collared
Whydah, Black Whydah, Cut-throat Whydah, .
In the previous edition of Roberts (ie 6th edition) the Red-collared Widowbird was called the Red-collared 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 Red-collared Widowbird is neither Endemic or near Endemic to the
Kruger National Park.
In terms of distribution of the Red-collared Widowbird in the Kruger National Park you may not see it in all areas. Red-collared 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 Red-collared Widowbird is an extremely small bird about half the size of a house sparrow. The height of the Red-collared Widowbird is about 12 cms and its weight is about 28 gms
You will find that the male Red-collared Widowbird plumage and colours are different to that of the female Red-collared Widowbird
- Head is black.
- Eye is brown.
- Bill is black.
- Throat is black, red.
- Back is black.
- Legs are black.
This bird has normally proportioned leg length.
Main diet items for this bird ...
The Red-collared Widowbird feeds on the ground, and on the wing mainly
Invertebrates
Fruits
Seeds
Nectar
Breeding and nesting habits for this bird ...
The Red-collared Widowbird takes on more than a single mate (it is bigamous).
The nesting habit of Red-collared Widowbird is to create the nest in branches of a tree or shrub. The bird lays eggs which are blue in colour and number between 2 to 4
Habitat and flocking behaviour for this bird ...
The preferred habitats for Red-collared Widowbird are: woodlands and grasslands . The Red-collared Widowbird is also at home in wetland areas.
You will normally see the Red-collared Widowbird in flocks.
Names of this avian species in other languages ...
Xhosa ... Intakazana/Ujobela
Zulu ... iNtaka/uJojo
Afrikaans ...Rooikeelflap
German ... Schildwida
Portuguese ... Viva-de-colar-vermelho
French ... Euplecte veuve-noire
Dutch ... Roodkeelwidavink
First bird in list | Previous bird viewed | Next KNP bird | Last bird in list
For in-depth birding information please refer to these authoritative avian references ...
Robert's 7th edition number ... 831
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
