Red-billed Quelea
Quelea quelea
- KingdomAnimalia (Animals)
- PhylumChordata (Cordats)
- ClassAves (Aus)
- OrderPasseriformes
- FamilyPloceidae (Weavers and Allies)
- GenusQuelea (Queleas)
- SpeciesQuelea quelea (Red-billed Quelea)
The red-billed quelea (; Quelea quelea), also known as the red-billed weaver or red-billed dioch, is a small, seasonally nomadic, sparrow-like bird of the weaver family, Ploceidae, native to sub-Saharan Africa. It is approximately 12 cm (4.7 in) long and weighs 15 to 26 g (0.53 to 0.92 oz). It was named by Linnaeus in 1758, who considered it a bunting, but Ludwig Reichenbach assigned it in 1850 to the new genus Quelea. Three subspecies are recognised, with Q. q. quelea occurring roughly from Senegal to Chad, Q. q. aethiopica from Sudan to Somalia and Tanzania, and Q. q. Wikipedia →
Closest Relatives at Selous Game Reserve
Red-headed Quelea
Quelea erythrops
African Golden-Weaver
Ploceus subaureus
Zanzibar Bishop
Euplectes nigroventris
Red-headed Weaver
Anaplectes rubriceps
Spectacled Weaver
Ploceus ocularis
Village Weaver
Ploceus cucullatus
Lesser Masked-Weaver
Ploceus intermedius
Grosbeak Weaver
Amblyospiza albifrons
Red-billed Buffalo-Weaver
Bubalornis niger
Fan-tailed Widowbird
Euplectes axillaris
Vitelline Masked-Weaver
Ploceus vitellinus
White-headed Buffalo-Weaver
Dinemellia dinemelli
📅 Monthly Probability
Fewer than 5 records of Red-billed Quelea at Selous Game 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