Pin-tailed Whydah

How to identify

Field marks

1. Male in the breeding season has a black crown and back
2. Male in the breeding season has a long black tail
3. Male in the breeding season has dark brown wings with white patches
4. Adult has a red bill

Male, female and young

Females and males in the non-breeding season have brown, streaked upperparts and lack the long tail; juveniles resemble females but have fewer markings and a gray bill.

Voice

The song is a series of rapid squeaks and trills.

Where and when it's recorded

Most records: United States, South Africa, Kenya

Pin-tailed Whydah has been recorded at 634 of the 8,276 birding hotspots we track, in 50 countries and regions.

Records by month Southern Hemisphere

Where it's recorded most

1. Huntington Central Park – EastUnited States2,973 records
2. Frank G. Bonelli RP/Puddingstone Reservoir and vicinityUnited States1,128 records
3. Nairobi NPKenya1,118 records

Countries and regions with the most records

United StatesSouth AfricaKenyaUgandaTanzaniaGhanaPuerto RicoZimbabwe

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 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.

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

Questions