Red-collared widowbird, Euplectes ardens (synonym, Coliuspasser ardens; protonym, Fringilla ardens), Boddaert, 1783, also known as the red-collared whydah, red-collared widow or red-naped widowbird, the eastern red-collared widowbird, the long-tailed black whydah or as the cut-throat, photographed in Lalibela in northern Ethiopia (Africa).
Image: Dan Logen, 8 February 2011 (with permission, for GrrlScientist/Guardian use only) [velociraptorise].
D300s, 200-400 mm lens at 400, ISO 1000, 1/500, f/6.3
Question: This African mystery bird is part of a large family of birds that are found only in the Old World. Many of this bird's family members share a particular behaviour. What behaviour is that? Can you identify this bird's taxonomic family and species?
Response: This is a red-collared widowbird, Euplectes ardens, a member of the weaverbird family, Ploceidae. This species is common throughout arid and semiarid subtropical and tropical lowland grasslands and shrublands of sub-Saharan Africa.
Adult males of this highly sexually dichromatic species are a distinctive black with a long thin tail when in breeding plumage and, to my eye, cannot be mistaken for anything else. However, adult females and juveniles are a different matter altogether, and are frequently mistaken for a number of their congeners -- even in museum collections. (Fortunately, non-breeding adult males retain their black primaries, which makes it easier to identify them, at least.) But females and juveniles have black-and-buff striped heads, relatively unstriped buffy underparts and they lack any colourful wing patches that some of the other Euplectes have, making it possible to distinguish this species from local congeners.
Interestingly, although the males have a brilliant red collar in breeding plumage, females choose their mates based solely by tail length, not on the intensity of the red neck collar [doi:10.1111/j.0014-3820.2001.tb00665.x, doi:10.1093/beheco/13.5.622 & doi:10.1098/rspb.2002.2131].
Most species of weavers are sociable birds that nest colonially. Males typically construct several nests by weaving grasses into a ball-like structure that dangles from the underside of thin tree branches, and entice the females into breeding with them based on her assessment the quality of his work. The close proximity of the nests, which are often constructed near or over water, reduces the risk of predation.
Weavers eat seeds and may damage crops. They feed insects to their chicks.
Read more about this species: Redcollared widow, Rooikelflap, Euplectes ardens.
The Mystery Birds reference library:
Oceania and the South Pacific Ocean
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