Family Whydahs and Indigobirds (Viduidae)
Least Concern
Sahel Paradise-whydah (Vidua orientalis)
Taxonomy
French: Veuve à collier d’or German: Senegalwitwe Spanish: Viuda del Sahel
Taxonomy:
Vidua paradisea [sic] orientalis
Heuglin
, 1870,Keren, Anseba, Eritrea
.
Subspecies and Distribution
V. o. aucupum
(Neumann, 1908) – S Mauritania, Senegal, N Gambia and S Mali E to S Niger and N Nigeria.
V. o. orientalis
Heuglin, 1870 – N Cameroon, S Chad, N Central African Republic, SC Sudan, N South Sudan, N Eritrea and NW Ethiopia.
Descriptive notes
13–14 cm, breeding male 30–31 cm; 15–27 g. Male nominate race breeding has black head, pale straw-coloured nape, black upperparts, black throat, brownish-... read more
Voice
Mimics songs and calls of its host, Melba Finch (Pytilia melba). In W Africa songs of host... read more
Habitat
Grassy Sahel acacia (Acacia) savanna and woodland with scattered shrubs and open ground,... read more
Food and feeding
Small grass seeds, taken from ground and from termite (Isoptera) mounds. Forages on ground, alone or in small groups.
Breeding
Season Jul–Dec in Senegal, Nigeria and Sudan, fledged young fed by adult hosts in Jan in Gambia, and males in breeding plumage Dec... read more
Movements
No information; flocks of non-breeding individuals and flocks of birds in partial breeding plumage... read more
Status and conservation
Not assessed. Probably not globally threatened. Fairly uncommon. Density in SE Niger in Sept 1·1 birds/km2 in one year, 0·3 in another year.
See V. paradisaea. Present species has sometimes been treated as conspecific with V. paradisaea alone, and specimens in tattered plumage from E Sudan and Eritrea suggest interbreeding between the two; molecular data#R, however, indicate that it is sister to V. interjecta. In Sudan, proposed races kudugliensis (described from Kadugli, in S Kordofan) and nilotica (from c. 16 km above Abu Zor, in Blue Nile) are synonyms of nominate. Two subspecies recognized.