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Pin-tailed whydah
Vidua macroura
-4.88299, 11.9861
Field Notes
Description:
Breeding male is unmistakable - portrayed here on first two photos. Some 12cm in body length, plus 20 in that long streamers. Boldly colored in black and white, with bright red bill. Non-breeding adult on photo 3 - Pink to reddish bill, sparrow-colored back and white to whitish below, no streamers but with the head boldly striped black and buff.
Habitat:
Common in savannahs and grasslands and forest edges in all sub-Saharan Africa. Here, we observed these birds on several occasions during our stay in Malonda Lodge, an eco-lodge near Pointe Noire. Lodge itself is on the Atlantic coast; overlooking the sandy beach and shallow but large lagoon. It is also bordering edges of tropical forest, and there is plenty of lush local vegetation (trees and shrubs), inside the compound - I got many of my lifers just inside the compound...
Notes:
Interesting thing about Pin-tailed whydah is that is a brood parasite, adding its eggs to nests of finches.
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