Whydahs and Indigobirds (Viduidae)

Shaft-tailed Whydah (Vidua regia) - HBW 15, p. 224

French: Veuve royale German: Königswitwe Spanish: Viuda Real
Other common names: Queen Whydah, Shaft-tailed Widow

Taxonomy: Emberiza regia Linnaeus, 1766, Africa = southern Angola.
This species and V. fischeri are sometimes placed together in a separate genus Tetraenura; the two have been thought to form a superspecies. Occasionally hybridizes with indigobirds (species undetermined) in the wild. Birds in S Mozambique described as race woltersi, but do not differ constantly in plumage colour from those elsewhere in species' range. Monotypic.

Distribution: S Angola, S & W Zambia, N & E Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, S Mozambique, and N South Africa (Limpopo Province S to extreme N Northern Cape, N & W Free State and N Mpumalanga).