Animalia > Chordata > Aves > Passeriformes > Viduidae > Vidua > Vidua regia

Vidua regia (Shaft-tailed Whydah)

Wikipedia Abstract

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. 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.
View Wikipedia Record: Vidua regia

EDGE Analysis

Uniqueness Scale: Similiar (0) 
1
 Unique (100)
Uniqueness & Vulnerability Scale: Similiar & Secure (0) 
9
 Unique & Vulnerable (100)
ED Score: 2.87256
EDGE Score: 1.35391
Learn more at EDGE of Existence programme

Attributes

Adult Weight [1]  14.5 grams
Birth Weight [2]  1.3 grams
Diet [3]  Carnivore (Vertebrates), Granivore
Diet - Endothermic [3]  10 %
Diet - Seeds [3]  90 %
Forages - Mid-High [3]  40 %
Forages - Understory [3]  50 %
Forages - Ground [3]  10 %
Clutch Size [2]  4
Incubation [4]  12 days
Mating Display [2]  Ground display (mostly)

Ecoregions

Name Countries Ecozone Biome Species Report Climate Land
Use
Highveld grasslands South Africa Afrotropic Montane Grasslands and Shrublands
Kalahari Acacia-Baikiaea woodlands Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe, South Africa Afrotropic Tropical and Subtropical Grasslands, Savannas, and Shrublands
Kalahari xeric savanna Botswana, Namibia, South Africa Afrotropic Deserts and Xeric Shrublands
Southern Africa bushveld Botswana, Zimbabwe, South Africa Afrotropic Tropical and Subtropical Grasslands, Savannas, and Shrublands
Southern Miombo woodlands Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Malawi, Zambia Afrotropic Tropical and Subtropical Grasslands, Savannas, and Shrublands

Protected Areas

External References

Citations

Attributes / relations provided by
♦ 1Nathan P. Myhrvold, Elita Baldridge, Benjamin Chan, Dhileep Sivam, Daniel L. Freeman, and S. K. Morgan Ernest. 2015. An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96:3109
♦ 2Terje Lislevand, Jordi Figuerola, and Tamás Székely. 2007. Avian body sizes in relation to fecundity, mating system, display behavior, and resource sharing. Ecology 88:1605
♦ 3Hamish Wilman, Jonathan Belmaker, Jennifer Simpson, Carolina de la Rosa, Marcelo M. Rivadeneira, and Walter Jetz. 2014. EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95:2027
♦ 4del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.
Ecoregions provided by World Wide Fund For Nature (WWF). WildFinder: Online database of species distributions, ver. 01.06 Wildfinder Database
Abstract provided by DBpedia licensed under a Creative Commons License
Species taxanomy provided by GBIF Secretariat (2022). GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei accessed via GBIF.org on 2023-06-13; License: CC BY 4.0