Quailfinch indigobird

Quailfinch indigobird
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Viduidae
Genus:	Vidua
Species:	V. nigeriae
Binomial name
Vidua nigeriae (Alexander, 1908)

The quailfinch indigobird (Vidua nigeriae) is a small songbird. It is a resident breeding bird in The Gambia, Nigeria and Cameroon. It occurs in isolated localities, especially on river flood plains.

It was formerly considered to be a

, Vidua funerea.

It is a

. It does not destroy the host's egg, but its own eggs are added to those already present.

The adult male quailfinch indigobird has greenish-black plumage, and the female resembles a female house sparrow, with streaked brown upperparts, buff underparts and a whitish supercilium.

Many of the indigobirds are very similar in appearance, with the males difficult to separate in the field, and the young and females near impossible. A helpful pointer is the association with the host species, the quailfinch.

The diet of this species consists of seeds and grain.

References

R.B. Payne & L.L. Payne, Song mimicry and species status of the indigobirds Vidua: Ibis 136 (1994): 291-304