Long-tailed Paradise Whydah

How to identify

Field marks

1. Male in the breeding season has a black head and back
2. Breeding male has a rusty breast, bright yellowish-brown nape and white belly
3. Breeding male has a broad, long tail that can exceed 36 cm
4. Non-breeding male is mostly brown, with black crown stripes

Male, female and young

The female usually has a gray bill and gray-brown plumage with dark streaks; males in the non-breeding season are difficult to distinguish from females.

Voice

The male mimics the host bird’s song.

Similar species

Broad-tailed Paradise Whydah

In the breeding season, the male Broad-tailed Paradise Whydah has broader, shorter tail feathers and an orange-brown nape; the male of this species has a paler yellowish-brown nape.

Where and when it's recorded

Busiest months: January–February · Most records: South Africa, Kenya, Tanzania

Long-tailed Paradise Whydah has been recorded at 244 of the 8,276 birding hotspots we track, in 16 countries and regions.

Records by month Southern Hemisphere

Where it's recorded most

1. Mkhuze GRSouth Africa171 records
2. Tarangire NPTanzania153 records
3. Tsavo West NPKenya112 records

Countries and regions with the most records

South AfricaKenyaTanzaniaNamibiaBotswanaEthiopiaZambiaZimbabwe

eBird records via GBIF up to 2024-12-31. A record means someone listed it; more records partly mean more birders, not more birds.

About

The long-tailed paradise whydah or eastern paradise whydah (Vidua paradisaea) is a bird in the family Viduidae of the order Passeriformes. It is a small passerine with a short, stubby bill, found across eastern and southern Africa from Ethiopia south to South Africa and west to Angola. It is mostly granivorous, and feed on seeds that have ripened and fallen on the ground.

Excerpt from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 · authors · Read more on Wikipedia

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