Biology:Viduidae

Short description: Family of birds

Viduidae
Pin-tailed whydah (Vidua macroura)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Superfamily:	Passeroidea
Family:	Viduidae
Genera
Vidua Anomalospiza

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. The birds named "whydahs" have long or very long tails in the breeding male.

All are obligate brood parasites, which lay their eggs in the nests of estrildid finch species; most indigobirds use firefinches as hosts, whereas the paradise whydahs choose pytilias. Unlike the cuckoos and honeyguides, the indigobirds and whydahs do not destroy the host's eggs. Typically, they lay 2–4 eggs in with those already present. The eggs of both the host and the victim are white, although the indigobird's are slightly larger. Many of the indigo-plumaged species named "indigobirds" are very similar in appearance, with the males difficult to separate in the field, and the young and females near impossible. The best guide is often the estrildid finch with which they are associating, since each indigobird parasitises a different host species. For example, the village indigobird is usually found with red-billed firefinches. Indigobirds and whydahs imitate their host's song, which the males learn in the nest. Although females do not sing, they also learn to recognise the song, and choose males with the same song, thus perpetuating the link between each species of indigobird and firefinch. The nestling indigobirds mimic the unique gape pattern of the fledglings of the host species.

The matching with the host is the driving force behind speciation in this family, but the close genetic and morphological similarities among species suggest that they are of recent origin.

The family contains two genera:

Image	Genus	Living Species
	Vidua Cuvier, 1816	Village indigobird, Vidua chalybeata Purple indigobird, Vidua purpurascens Jambandu indigobird, Vidua raricola Barka indigobird, Vidua larvaticola Dusky indigobird, Vidua funerea Zambezi indigobird Vidua codringtoni Wilson's indigobird, Vidua wilsoni Quailfinch indigobird, Vidua nigeriae Jos Plateau indigobird, Vidua maryae Cameroon indigobird, Vidua camerunensis Pin-tailed whydah, Vidua macroura Steel-blue whydah, Vidua hypocherina Straw-tailed whydah, Vidua fischeri Shaft-tailed whydah, Vidua regia Long-tailed paradise whydah, Vidua paradisaea Sahel paradise whydah, Vidua orientalis Exclamatory paradise whydah, Vidua interjecta Togo paradise whydah, Vidua togoensis Broad-tailed paradise whydah, Vidua obtusa
	Anomalospiza Shelley, 1901	Cuckoo-finch or parasitic weaver, Anomalospiza imberbis

Sources

• Payne, Robert (2010). "Family Viduidae (Whydahs and Indigobirds)". Handbook of the Birds of the World Volume 15: Weavers to New World Warblers. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. ISBN 978-84-96553-45-3. http://www.lynxeds.com/hbw/family-text/hbw15-family-text-viduidae-whydahs-and-indigobirds. 

External links

• Whydahs and indigobirds (Viduidae) information, including 7 species with videos and 9 with photographs at the Internet Bird Collection
• Indigobirds.com

Wikidata ☰ Q577363 entry