The Pin-tailed Whydah is 12–13 cm in length, although the breeding male's tail adds another 20 cm to this. The adult male has a black back and crown, and a very long black tail. The wings are dark brown with white patches, and the underparts and the head, apart from the crown, are white. The bill is bright red.
The female and non-breeding male have streaked brown upperparts, whitish underparts with buff flanks, and a buff and black face pattern. They lack the long tail extension, but retain the red bill. Immature birds are like the female but plainer and with a greyish bill.
The male Pin-tailed Whydah is territorial, and one male often has several females in his small group. He has an elaborate courtship flight display, which includes hovering over the female to display his tail. The song is given from a high perch, and consists of rapid squeaking and churring. The diet of this species consists of seeds and grain.
This particular chap chases away any other bird that comes close to the bird feeder whilst he is around.
Info obtained from Wikipedia.
I'm from Tulbagh, Western Cape, South Africa. Tulbagh is a small farming community.
Get Pushed Challenge: I have been doing this challenge on and off...
Hi Sally,
thanks for my challenge it sounds like fun. Sorry it has taken a while to get back to you.You take lovely photos and have such a variety of subjects, so I am going to challenge you to do a triptych and leave the theme up to you (or you could do more than one if you like?)
thanks for my challenge it sounds like fun. Sorry it has taken a while to get back to you.You take lovely photos and have such a variety of subjects, so I am going to challenge you to do a triptych and leave the theme up to you (or you could do more than one if you like?)