Shaft-tailed whydah
{{Short description|Species of bird}}
{{Speciesbox
| name = Shaft-tailed whydah
| image = Whydah Shaft-tailed 2007 0107 1225 15AA.jpg
| image_caption = Male in breeding plumage
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| genus = Vidua
| species = regia
| authority = (Linnaeus, 1766)
| synonyms = Emberiza regia {{small|Linnaeus, 1766}}
}}
The shaft-tailed whydah or queen whydah (Vidua regia) is a small, sparrow-like bird in the genus Vidua. During the breeding season the male has black crown and upper body plumage, golden breast and four elongated black tail shaft feathers with expanded tips. After the breeding season is over, the male sheds its long tail and grows olive brown female-like plumage.
The shaft-tailed whydah is distributed in open habitats and grasslands of Southern Africa, from south Angola to south Mozambique. It is a brood parasite to the violet-eared waxbill. The diet consists mainly of seeds.
Widespread and a common species throughout its large habitat range, the shaft-tailed whydah is evaluated as least concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
Taxonomy
In 1760 the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson included a description of the shaft-tailed whydah in his Ornithologie based on a specimen collected from the African coast. He used the French name La veuve de la côte d'Afrique and the Latin Vidua Riparia Africana.{{ cite book | last=Brisson | first=Mathurin Jacques | author-link=Mathurin Jacques Brisson | year=1760 | title=Ornithologie, ou, Méthode contenant la division des oiseaux en ordres, sections, genres, especes & leurs variétés | volume=3 | language=French, Latin | place=Paris | publisher=Jean-Baptiste Bauche | pages=129-, Plate 9 fig 1 | url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/35953132 }} The two stars (**) at the start of the section indicates that Brisson based his description on the examination of a specimen. Although Brisson coined Latin names, these do not conform to the binomial system and are not recognised by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature.{{cite journal |last=Allen | first=J.A. | author-link=Joel Asaph Allen | year=1910 | title=Collation of Brisson's genera of birds with those of Linnaeus |journal=Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History |volume=28 | pages=317–335 | hdl=2246/678 }} When in 1766 the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus updated his Systema Naturae for the twelfth edition, he added 240 species that had been previously described by Brisson. One of these was the shaft-tailed whydah. Linnaeus included a brief description, coined the binomial name Emberiza regia and cited Brisson's work.{{cite book | last=Linnaeus | first=Carl | author-link=Carl Linnaeus | year=1766 | title=Systema naturae : per regna tria natura, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis | edition=12th | volume=1, Part 1 | publisher=Laurentii Salvii | place=Holmiae (Stockholm) | language=Latin | page=313 | url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/42946509 }} The specific name regia is from the Latin regius "royal".{{cite web | last=Jobling | first=J.A. | year=2018 | title= Key to Scientific Names in Ornithology | editor1-last=del Hoyo | editor1-first=J. | editor2-last=Elliott | editor2-first=A. | editor3-last=Sargatal | editor3-first=J. | editor4-last=Christie | editor4-first=D.A. | editor5-last=de Juana | editor5-first=E. | work=Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive | publisher=Lynx Edicions | url=https://www.hbw.com/dictionary/definition/regia | access-date=2 May 2018 }} This species is now placed in the genus Vidua that was introduced by the French naturalist Georges Cuvier in 1816.{{ cite book | last=Cuvier | first=Georges | author-link=Georges Cuvier | year=1816 | title=Le Règne animal distribué d'après son organisation : pour servir de base a l'histoire naturelle des animaux et d'introduction a l'anatomie comparée | volume=1 | language=French | place=Paris | publisher=Déterville | pages=388–389 | url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/1844898 }}
Gallery
Whydah Shaft-tailed 2007 0107 1231 40AA.jpg|Shaft-tailed whydah
Whydah Shaft-tailed 2007 0107 1231 05AB.jpg
Shaft-tailed Whydah (Vidua regia) (7000402705).jpg
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/species/index.html?action=SpcHTMDetails.asp&sid=8747&m=0 BirdLife Species Factsheet]
- Shaft-tailed whydah - [http://sabap2.adu.org.za/docs/sabap1/861.pdf Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds].
{{Viduidae}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q539855}}