Male Shaft-tailed Whydah (Vidua regia)

The shaft-tailed whydah or queen whydah is a small, sparrow-like bird in the genus ''Vidua''. During the breeding season the male has black crown and upper body plumage, golden breast and four elongated black tail shaft feathers with expanded tips. After the breeding season is over, the male sheds its long tail and grows olive brown female-like plumage.

The shaft-tailed whydah is distributed in open habitats and grasslands of Southern Africa, from south Angola to south Mozambique. It.. more