Pin-tailed Whydah Courtship Display

[Donkees]

[Donkees]

1. Pin Tailed Whydah

The pin-tailed whydah (Vidua macroura) 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.

The pin-tailed whydah was first described by the German naturalist Peter Simon Pallas in 1764 and given the binomial name Fringilla macroura

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

The pin-tailed whydah occurs in much of sub-Saharan Africa, favouring grassland, scrubs and savannah, also coming into parks and gardens.[5] In Portugal it is established in the region around Aveiro, with observations occurring north and south of it.[6] It has also been introduced to southern California, Puerto Rico, and Singapore

The species is a brood parasite which lays its eggs in the nests of estrildid finches, especially waxbills. Unlike the common cuckoo, it does not destroy the host's eggs. Typically, 2–4 eggs are added to those already present. The eggs of both the host and the whydah are white, although the whydah's are slightly larger. The nestling whydahs mimic the gape pattern of the fledglings of the host species.
The male pin-tailed whydah is territorial, and one male often has several females in his small group. He has an elaborate courtship flight display, which includes hovering over the female to display his tail. The song is given from a high perch, and consists of rapid squeaking and churring. The diet of this species consists of seeds and grain.

[chia]

2. "It has also been introduced to southern California..."

I was thrilled to see one of these males show up at my bird feeder on several occasions in the last year. Exciting moment, amazing to see right outside my window. Their body is no bigger than a lesser goldfinch's, but the incredibly long tail feathers and bright orange beak are really something.

[Donkees]

3. Escapees from the pet trade have even shown up in NYC

This Beautiful Parasitic Bird Could Soon Turn Up in Your Yard

Excerpt:

The pin-tailed whydah is one out of only about 100 parasites of the 10,000 bird species in the world. In its native range in sub-Saharan and South Africa, it uses more than 20 other birds as foster mothers to care for its offspring.

“These birds don’t look like a virus or bacteria, but they have the same impact,” Dr. Hauber said.

Brood parasites compete with their hosts. And the host birds must work harder to support themselves, their own young and the offspring they are tricked into fostering. Over time, it takes a toll on the hosts.

After arriving in Puerto Rico in the 1960s and 1970s, for example, they learned to fool Orange-cheeked Waxbills. And in California, scaly-breasted munias have been found feeding young whydahs. Dr. Hauber is worried they could target native birds that never learned to identify whydah babies by their spots.

People buy pin-tailed whydahs as pets. But males and females paired together make poor feathered companions. When not breeding the male loses his elaborate tail feathers. And when his displays are not well received, he will pick on the female. Bored or frustrated pet owners or shopkeepers who can’t sell their expensive pets may release them into the wild, Dr. Hauber said. Or they may escape while being transported.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/29/science/pin-tailed-whydahs.html


A parasitic pin-tailed whydah chick, left, which closely mimics the spots or gape patterns of a host bird, the common waxbill, right.Credit...Justin Schuetz

[chia]

4. Wow, that's a crazy photo. I wonder why the whydah doesn't want to raise its own chicks. What

evolutionary twist brought that about in 1% of the bird population?

[Donkees]

5. It may be that their eggs have a much better chance of survival with more nurturing birds (?)