Pin-tailed Whydah ( Vidua macroura, family: Viduidae)

pin tailed whydah kruger national park birds The Pin-tailed Whydah (Latin name Vidua macroura) is described in Roberts Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition. This bird has a unique Roberts number of 860 and you will find a full description of this bird on page 1070 also a picture of the Pin-tailed Whydah on page 1072. The Pin-tailed Whydah belongs to the family of birds classified as Viduidae. According to the Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology the Pin-tailed Whydah is also known by these other names: Pin-tailed Widow.

In the previous edition of Roberts (ie 6th edition) the Pin-tailed Whydah was called the

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 Pin-tailed Whydah is neither Endemic or near Endemic to the Kruger National Park.

In terms of distribution of the Pin-tailed Whydah in the Kruger National Park you may not see it in all areas. Pin-tailed Whydah : see above distribution map.

The Pin-tailed Whydah.

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 Pin-tailed Whydah 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 Pin-tailed Whydah is about 13 cms and its weight is about 26 gms

You will find that the male Pin-tailed Whydah plumage and colours are different to that of the female Pin-tailed Whydah

  • Head is black, white.
  • Eye is brown.
  • Bill is red.
  • Throat is white.
  • Back is black.
  • Legs are black.

This bird has normally proportioned leg length.

Main diet items for this bird ...

The Pin-tailed Whydah feeds on the ground, and on the wing mainly

Invertebrates

Seeds

Breeding and nesting habits for this bird ...

The Pin-tailed Whydah is monogamous unless its mate dies. In the event of a partner dying Vidua macroura will seek out a new mate

The nesting habit of Pin-tailed Whydah is to create the nest in branches of a tree or shrub. The bird lays eggs which are white in colour and number between 2 to 5

Habitat and flocking behaviour for this bird ...

The preferred habitats for Pin-tailed Whydah are: woodlands and grasslands . The Pin-tailed Whydah is also at home in wetland and bushveld areas.

You will normally see the Pin-tailed Whydah in pairs or flocks and not as single birds.

Names of this avian species in other languages ...

Xhosa ... Uhlakhwe/Ujobela

Zulu ... uHlekwane

Afrikaans ...Koningrooibekkie

German ... Dominikanerwitwe

Portuguese ... Viuvinha

French ... Veuve dominicaine

Dutch ... Dominikaner-Wida

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For in-depth birding information please refer to these authoritative avian references ...

Robert's 7th edition number ... 860

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