''Quelea'' is a genus of small passerine birds that belongs to the

weaver Weaver or Weavers may refer to: Activities * A person who engages in weaving fabric Animals * Various birds of the family Ploceidae * Crevice weaver spider family * Orb-weaver spider family * Weever (or weever-fish) Arts and entertainment ...

family Ploceidae, confined to Africa. These are small-sized, sparrow- or finch-like gregarious birds, with bills adapted to eating seeds. Queleas may be nomadic over vast ranges; the red-billed quelea is said to be the most numerous bird species in the world.

Taxonomy

There are three species:

Phylogeny

Based on recent DNA-analysis, the red-billed quelea is sister to a

clade A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English term, ...

that consist of both remaining species of the genus ''Quelea'', namely ''Q. cardinalis'' and ''Q. erythrops''. The genus belongs to the group of true weavers (subfamily Ploceinae), and is most related to '' Foudia'', a genus of six or seven species that occur on the islands of the western Indian Ocean. This clade is sister to the Asian species of the genus '' Ploceus''. The following tree represents current insight of the relationships between the species of ''Quelea'', and their closest relatives.

Impact on agriculture

''Q. quelea'' is a major pest to small-grain cereal crops in much of sub-Saharan Africa; the kernels of corn are too big for it. ''Q. erythrops'' may cause substantial damage to rice. ''Q. cardinalis'' is not known to raid crops. cited on

References

Ploceidae Bird genera Taxa named by Ludwig Reichenbach {{Ploceidae-stub