Long-tailed Widowbird vs White-winged Widowbird

Long-tailed Widowbird

Euplectes progne

Small35 gGrassland

Long-tailed widowbirds exhibit distinct sexual dimorphism. Males and females exhibit differences in behaviour and morphological traits. Adult males are entirely black, including under their wing-coverts. Males' wing shoulders are orange red and their wing-coverts white. Their bills are bluish white. Males are known for their distinctly long tails, which contain twelve tail feathers. Of these twelve tail feathers, between six and eight are approximately half a metre (approximately 20 inches) long. Males have wingspans of approximately 127 to 147 mm (approximately 5 to 5.8 inches).

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Sunčana Bradley · CC BY 4.0

White-winged Widowbird

Euplectes albonotatus

Small21 gGrassland

The white-winged widowbird is 15 to 19 cm (5.9–7.5 in) in length and about 23 g (0.81 oz) in weight. The male is the only short-tailed widowbird in its region with white on its coverts. The breeding male is distinguished from the yellow-mantled widowbird by its shorter tail, wing color, lack of yellow on its back, and paler bill. Females are pale below.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Albertus Horn · CC BY 4.0

Photos and recordings are credited to their authors under the licence shown. Full profiles: Long-tailed Widowbird and White-winged Widowbird.