White-winged Widowbird

Euplectes albonotatus

Photo by Leon

Identification

Length 15 cm.

Adult breeding male: Black with a blue-grey bill, yellow and white shoulder; white wing panels in flight.

Distribution

Sub-Saharan Africa; Sudan and Ethiopia to South Africa.

Taxonomy

Euplectes albonotatus has four subspecies.¹

• E. a. eques

• Sudan to southern Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania
• Browner shoulder patch

• E. a. sassii

• Extreme north-eastern DRC, Rwanda and Burundi

• E. a. asymmetrurus

• Gabon to Angola and extreme north-eastern Namibia
• Male with a longer tail than other subspecies

• E. a. albonotatus

• South-eastern DRC to Zambia, northern and eastern Botswana, Zimbabwe and north-eastern and eastern South Africa, Swaziland and Mozambique

Habitat

Tall grassland with bushes, including tall grass in road verges and old lands; often moist or marshy areas.

Behaviour

Non-breeding birds forage in large flocks (often with other seed-eating species). Diet is mainly grass seeds; also nectar and insects.

Vocalisation

Sings from an elevated perch: squee-squi-squeege. Also a rustling shwrrr.

Breeding

Polygynous; male defends a territory of 0.1 to 0.2 ha and breeds with up to four females in a season. The oval nest is built using grass and has a side-top entrance. It is located in dense grass within 1.3 m of the ground. Two to four eggs are incubated for 12-14 days by the female; the nestling period is 11-14 days. Parasitised by Dideric Cuckoo.

References

1. Clements JF. 2007. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to October 2008. Cornell University Press. ISBN 9780801445019

External Links

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