Shaft tailed Whydah

Bird

Shaft tailed Whydah Sightings in Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park

Vidua regia

Least ConcernPrey speciesOn the checklist

Planning a trip to Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park? Download opspoor to see recent sightings in the park and log your own.

When to see Shaft tailed Whydah in Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park

Shaft tailed Whydah are most active during the day (06:00 to 18:00).

This is Shaft tailed Whydah's general behavior. Once enough sightings are logged in Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, this page also shows when they're actually seen here.

About the Shaft tailed Whydah

A small, sparrow-like bird of open habitats and grassland across southern Africa, also known as the queen whydah. Breeding males have a black crown and upperparts, a golden-yellow breast, and four long, wire-like tail feathers with expanded tips; after the breeding season they moult into a plain olive-brown, female-like plumage and lose the long tail entirely. It is an obligate brood parasite of the Violet-eared Waxbill, laying its eggs in that species' nests and leaving all parental care to the host.

How to identify the Shaft tailed Whydah

Breeding males are unmistakable with four elongated black tail-shaft feathers with expanded tips, dropped entirely outside the breeding season when males resemble the plain, streaky females

Other species to look for in Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park

Other parks where you can see Shaft tailed Whydah

Heading to Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park? opspoor shows where Shaft tailed Whydah have been logged recently and lets you log your own, even with no signal.