Red-headed Quelea

Quelea erythrops

The red head of the breeding male is distinctive. Non-breeding male and female are nondescript, streaky brown birds with buffy eyebrows. Found in moist grassland and savanna. Most records are of territorial breeding males. Becomes inconspicuous when not breeding, mixing with flocks of other weavers and seedeaters. The call is a rough “jyet”, and the song is an unmusical chattering. Breeding male very similar to breeding male Cardinal Quelea but has more red on the nape and less on the breast, producing a more cleanly “hooded” look.

分类信息

The red-headed quelea was collected by Carl Weiss on Sao Tome island in 1847, and after its arrival at the Hamburg Museum described for science for the first time by Gustav Hartlaub in 1848, who named it Ploceus erythrops. In 1951, Hans von Boetticher regarded the cardinal quelea and red-headed quelea sufficiently different from the red-billed quelea to create a new genus Queleopsis.<p>The species epithet erythrops derives from the Greek word ἐρυθρός (eruthros), meaning "red" and ὄψ (ops) meaning "eye" or "face", referring to the rufous or red face. Ludwig Reichenbach gave the species its first English name in 1863: red-headed dioch. Other vernacular names in the English language include pokerhead, and red-headed weaver. Its vernacular name in Swahili is kwelea kichwa-chekundu.<p>Based on recent DNA-analysis, the red-headed quelea forms a clade with the cardinal quelea (Q. cardinalis), and this clade is sister to the red-billed quelea Q. quelea. The genus Quelea belongs to the group of true weavers (subfamily Ploceinae), and is most related to Foudia, a genus of six or seven species that occur on the islands of the western Indian Ocean. This clade is sister to the Asian species of the genus Ploceus. The following tree represents current insight of the relationships between the species of Quelea, and their closest relatives.

学名
Quelea erythrops
命名信息
(Hartlaub, 1848)
Passeriformes
Ploceidae
Quelea

分布与栖息地

迁徙
Resident species

保护状况

种群趋势
stable

照片

分布

鸟叫声

其他鸟类

Spotted Honeyguide

Spotted Honeyguide

Indicator maculatus

A large honeyguide of forest and forest edge. Usually stays high in the trees, but will descend low when foraging or when following humans through the forest. Shows greenish back and wings with a spotted crown and distinctive olive-green underparts with white spotting. Has a typical honeyguide tail, with white outer tail feathers with dark tips. Throat is paler than breast, and the pale belly has spots turning to streaks. Song is a distinctive trilled “tjrrrrr” lasting up to several seconds. 

Blue-throated Flycatcher

Blue-throated Flycatcher

Cyornis rubeculoides

Small flycatcher with an orange chest and a white belly. Male is bright blue above, while the female is brown above with a rufous tail. Confusingly similar to many other Blue Flycatchers, but extensively blue throat and limited orange underparts serve to identify the male. Female can be trickier; look out for relatively well-defined orange breast, rufous tail, and weak eyering (but no pale lores). Found in the dense undergrowth of hill forests. Song is a rambling and variable series of whistling, warbling, and chattering notes; also gives typical Cyornis “chak” and rattle calls.

Cape Weaver

Cape Weaver

Ploceus capensis

A large weaver with a long, thin pointed bill. The male has a pale eye, and during the breeding season a brownish wash to the face. The female has a brown eye and an olive-brown belly. The species occupies open country, where it often breeds in mixed-species colonies over water or in large isolated trees. The chattering and rasping song is long and complex. The smaller Southern Brown-throated Weaver has a chunkier bill than Cape Weaver; its male has a better defined brown throat and its female has a white belly. African Golden-Weaver has reddish eyes, and Holub’s Golden-Weaver has an unstreaked yellowish back.

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