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ShrublandSmall · 16 g
ID tip
The pin-tailed whydah is 12–13 cm in length, although the breeding male's tail adds another 20 cm to this. The adult male has a black back and crown, and a very long black tail. The wings are dark brown with white patches, and the underparts and the head, apart from the crown, are white. The bill is bright red. The female and non-breeding male have streaked brown upperparts, whitish underparts with buff flanks, and a buff and black face pattern. They lack the long tail extension, but retain the red bill. Immature birds are like the female but plainer and with a greyish bill.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
When to see the Pin-tailed Whydah
One bar for each month, and every month is filled: this bird is recorded here in all twelve. The wide bar is December, the month with the most records.
Where to see the Pin-tailed Whydah
The map shades 52 countries with regular records, and 2 more in a lighter tone where the bird turns up only as a stray. Everything unshaded has no records. Countries are listed below the map.
Recorded as a rare visitor in Spain, Guadeloupe.
About the Pin-tailed Whydah
The pin-tailed whydah is a small songbird with a conspicuous pennant-like tail in breeding males. It is a resident breeding bird in most of Africa south of the Sahara Desert.
Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Easily confused with
Village IndigobirdVidua chalybeataThe village indigobird is 11–12 cm in length.
Long-tailed Paradise WhydahVidua paradisaeaBreeding male long-tailed paradise whydahs have black heads and back, a rusty coloured breast, a bright buffy-yellow nape, and white abdomen with broad, elongated black tail feathers that can grow up to 36 cm or more.
Shaft-tailed WhydahVidua regiaThe shaft-tailed whydah or queen whydah is a small, sparrow-like bird in the genus Vidua.
Side by side: Pin-tailed Whydah vs Village Indigobird · Long-tailed Paradise Whydah vs Pin-tailed Whydah
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