Pin-tailed Whydah

39 Replies

Vidua macroura

The little Pin-tailed Whydah (12cm long, without the tail, and weighing only about 15g) is most known for the aggressive nature of the breeding males, which carries tails almost double their own body length and have no qualms tackling birds many times their own weight, like doves and pigeons, over a food source or territory!

Pin-tailed Whydahs are brood parasites, meaning that the female lays her eggs (usually 1 or 2 but up to 4 at a time) in the nests of other birds, mostly small seed-eaters like waxbills, for them to raise the chicks, often after removing some or all of the host birds’ eggs. A single Pin-tailed Whydah female may lay up to 25 eggs in a season. Their breeding season stretches from spring to autumn. Males are polygamous and highly territorial. The chicks hatch after about 11 days of incubation and leave the nest at about 3 weeks old, staying with their host family for about another week before joining a Whydah group.

Their habitat ranges from savanna, grassland, reedbeds and scrublands to suburban parks, orchards and gardens. They feed mostly on seeds and termites. In South Africa they occur in all our provinces, though they’re rather sparsely distributed in the arid Northern Cape, while outside of our borders Pin-tailed Whydahs occur over most of the continent south of the Sahara. The IUCN considers the Pin-tailed Whydah to be of least concern.

Pin-tailed Whydah
Pin-tailed whydah
Pin-tailed Whydah
Pin-tailed Whydah
Pin-tailed Whydah female
Pin-tailed Whydah
Pin-tailed whydah
Pin-tailed whydah
Pin-tailed whydah
Pin-tailed whydah male without the long tailfeathers
Pin-tailed Whydah female
Displaying Pin-tailed whydah male without the long tailfeathers
Pin-tailed Whydah female
Male Pin-tailed Whydah (lost the trailing feathers somehow)
Female Pin-tailed Whydah
Pin-tailed Whydah female
Pin-tailed whydah
Pin-tailed Whydah male (photo by Joubert)
Pin-tailed Whydah
Pin-tailed Whydah
Pin-tailed Whydah

39 thoughts on “Pin-tailed Whydah”

  1. Paul Minnaar

    Having read your blog, I now understand f the Whydah. We have one in our yard all season, at first I thought what a wonderful character – but as you get to spend time with them and watch their territorial behaviour, you begin to despise them as all the other birds are not having a good time while he’s around. We have spread our feeders which is the best way to deter his constant attacks. I wish I could post a video of this.

    Like

    Reply ↓
    1. DeWetsWild Post author

      If there’s one animal in the world that suffers from the Napoleon Complex, it is the Pin-tailed Whydah male!

      Thanks for your very interesting contribution, Paul. If you have the video on YouTube or another site you’re welcome to post a link here.

      Like

      Reply ↓
  2. Carla

    Hi all. I have this male bird… And he destroys my bird that comes to my garden to eat is there maybe a way to get rid of him… I love him but.. I want my other birds there aswell

    Like

    Reply ↓
    1. DeWetsWild Post author

      Their aggressive nature can be a challenge, Carla, and unfortunately I don’t know a way of scaring away the whydah that will not also scare away the other birds. Best option I can offer is to have more than one feeder in your garden if there’s enough space. Hopefully now that the breeding season is coming to an end your male whydah will be less territorial.

      Like

      Reply ↓
    1. de Wets Wild Post author

      Nee, hulle is fisies baie kleiner as die flap, AJ, maar hulle “attitude” is baie groter.
      There’s many birds employi g the “brood parasitism” strategy, though as a percentage of the total they are definitely in the minority.

      Like

      Reply ↓

  5. Pingback: Pin-tailed Whydah – New Bird in My Garden | The Shower of Blessings

  10. Anne

    I always look forward to their return shortly before the start of the spring breeding season. For several years a single male adopted our garden as his territory, which made every other bird have to run the gauntlet to get to the feeders. Now we are a more or less neutral communal source of food, so have seen up to five males and numerous females feeding at the same time – not in perfect harmony mind you!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply ↓
  12. Miriam Hurdle

    It’s wonderful to see you post and read about this bird. I had the first visit from a Pin-tailed Whydah today. I took as many photos as I could from a distance. I couldn’t see him when he flew away because I was hiding when taking photos. I had our first hummingbird nest with a growing baby. I’ll post some photos later. Thank you for your post because I was trying to find out about my new visitor.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply ↓
    1. de Wets Wild Post author

      Imagine having a bird from a different continent visiting your garden, Miriam!!! Wow! I’d imagine he was probably an escapee from an exotic aviary, but still it must have been very special!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply ↓
    1. de Wets Wild Post author

      Traditionally we’d only think of cuckoos employing the strategy of having birds of other species raise their chicks. And then where does that leave the theory about baby birds imprinting on their caregivers? Really fascinating, agreed Tina!

      Like

      Reply ↓

Please don't leave without sharing your thoughts?

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.