The broad-tailed paradise whydah (''Vidua obtusa'') is a species of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

in the family

Viduidae __NOTOC__ The indigobirds and whydahs, together with the cuckoo-finch, make up the family Viduidae; they are small passerine birds native to Africa. These are finch-like species which usually have black or indigo predominating in their plumage. ...

. It is found in woodland and acacia savanna habitat in

Sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa is, geographically, the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lies south of the Sahara. These include West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, and Southern Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the List of sov ...

from Angola to Uganda, Tanzania and Mozambique. A

brood parasite Brood parasites are animals that rely on others to raise their young. The strategy appears among birds, insects and fish. The brood parasite manipulates a host, either of the same or of another species, to raise its young as if it were its own ...

, it has a wide range and the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

has assessed it as being of

least concern A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...

Taxonomy

Chapin described the broad-tailed paradise whydah as ''Steganura aucupum obtusa'' from Luchenza in 1922. Previously, ''Vidua obtusa'', ''V. interjecta'', ''V. orientalis'', ''V. paradisaea'' and ''V. togoensis'' were considered to be in the same species, and these five species are sometimes placed in the genus ''Steganura''. The broad-tailed paradise whydah is a

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

species.

Description

The breeding male is long, and the nonbreeding male and the female are long. Females have been measured to weigh approximately . The breeding male has long tail feathers with rounded tips. It has a chestnut-orange patch on its nape. The nonbreeding male's underparts are buffy, and its upperparts are grey-brown, with streaks. There are black and white stripes on its head. The female is similar to the nonbreeding male. The immature bird resembles the female, but some of its feathers have buffy edges, and its patterns are less distinct.

Distribution and habitat

This whydah is found in Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, with an estimated distribution size of . Approximately half of the range overlaps with the range of the

long-tailed paradise whydah The long-tailed paradise whydah or eastern paradise whydah (''Vidua paradisaea'') is from the family Viduidae of the order Passeriformes. They are small passerines with short, stubby bills found across Sub-Saharan Africa. They are mostly granivorou ...

. The broad-tailed paradise whydah's habitat is woodlands, including

miombo The Miombo woodland is a tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome (in the World Wide Fund for Nature scheme) located primarily in Central Africa. It includes four woodland savanna ecoregions (listed below) characterized b ...

and ''

Baikiaea plurijuga ''Baikiaea plurijuga'', known as African teak, Mukusi, Rhodesian teak, Zambian teak or Zambesi redwood, is a species of Afrotropical tree from the legume family, the Fabaceae from southern Africa. Description ''Baikiaea plurijuga'' is a medi ...

'' woodland, and also acacia savannas.

Behaviour and ecology

The broad-tailed paradise whydah is a brood parasite, its host being the

orange-winged pytilia The orange-winged pytilia (''Pytilia afra''), also known as the golden-backed pytilia, is a species of estrildid finch found in Africa. It has a wide range and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has assessed it as being of least ...

(''Pytilia afra''). The host species only weighs and is thus at a disadvantage. It mimics the host species's call. It feeds on the ground in small flocks, eating seeds. When the broad-tailed paradise whydah is not breeding, it may mix with the long-tailed paradise whydah. Breeding plumage has been observed from February to July in the southeastern

Congo Basin The Congo Basin (french: Bassin du Congo) is the sedimentary basin of the Congo River. The Congo Basin is located in Central Africa, in a region known as west equatorial Africa. The Congo Basin region is sometimes known simply as the Congo. It con ...

. The eggs are white, weighing approximately . Newborn chicks have loose greyish down, very similar to chicks of the orange-winged pytilia. The incubation period and nestling period are unknown.

Irruption Animal migration is the relatively long-distance movement of individual animals, usually on a seasonal basis. It is the most common form of migration in ecology. It is found in all major animal groups, including birds, mammals, fish, reptiles, ...

s can occur; in 1994, an "invasion" of thousands of whydahs was reported in

Kasane Kasane is a town in Botswana, close to Africa's 'Four Corners', where four countries almost meet: Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe. It is at the far north-eastern corner of Botswana where it serves as the administrative center of the Chobe D ...

, Botswana.

Status

The species has a large range and a stable population trend, so the

IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biol ...

has assessed the species as

References

External links

The Paradise Whydahs Species Factsheet
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1924773 broad-tailed paradise whydah Birds of Southern Africa broad-tailed paradise whydah broad-tailed paradise whydah Taxonomy articles created by Polbot