Long-tailed Paradise Whydah
Vidua paradisaea
- KingdomAnimalia (Animals)
- PhylumChordata (Cordats)
- ClassAves (Aus)
- OrderPasseriformes
- FamilyViduidae (Indigobirds and Whydahs)
- GenusVidua (Indigobirds and Whydahs)
- SpeciesVidua paradisaea (Long-tailed Paradise Whydah)
The long-tailed paradise whydah or eastern paradise whydah (Vidua paradisaea) is a bird in the family Viduidae of the order Passeriformes. It is a small passerine with a short, stubby bill, found across eastern and southern Africa from Ethiopia south to South Africa and west to Angola. It is mostly granivorous, and feed on seeds that have ripened and fallen on the ground. The ability to distinguish between males and females is quite difficult unless it is breeding season. During this time, the males moult into breeding plumage where they have a distinctive long tail. This can be up to three times longer than its own body or even more. Wikipedia →
Closest Relatives at Masai Mara National Reserve
Pin-tailed Whydah
Vidua macroura
Village Indigobird
Vidua chalybeata
Straw-tailed Whydah
Vidua fischeri
Steel-blue Whydah
Vidua hypocherina
Cuckoo Finch
Anomalospiza imberbis
Superb Starling
Lamprotornis superbus
Rüppell's Glossy-starling
Lamprotornis purpuroptera
Common Bulbul
Pycnonotus barbatus
Yellow-throated Longclaw
Macronyx croceus
Grey-backed Fiscal
Lanius excubitoroides
Sooty Chat
Myrmecocichla nigra
Yellow-billed Oxpecker
Buphagus africanus
📅 Monthly Probability
Fewer than 5 records of Long-tailed Paradise Whydah at Masai Mara National Reserve — not enough to chart months honestly.
☀️ When They're Spotted
Most active during daytime hours (6am–6pm) · across all parks (global)
Global Distribution
Where this species is recorded worldwide. Restricted to human observations from 2019 onwards — the same kind of record and the same period the probabilities on this page are built from, so collar-tracking studies, camera-trap arrays and museum specimens are excluded. Around Santa Rosa that removes 5,924 GPS fixes from a handful of tagged jaguars.
where this species is recorded (GBIF density — it tracks where observers go, not how likely a sighting is) · parks where it occurs — tap a pin for the sighting probability there