The indigobirds and whydahs, are a family, Viduidae, of small passerine

Passerine

A passerine is a bird of the order Passeriformes, which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds or, less accurately, as songbirds, the passerines form one of the most diverse terrestrial vertebrate orders: with over 5,000 identified species, it has roughly...

 birds native to Africa

Africa

Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...

.

These are finch-like

Finch

The true finches are passerine birds in the family Fringillidae. They are predominantly seed-eating songbirds. Most are native to the Northern Hemisphere, but one subfamily is endemic to the Neotropics, one to the Hawaiian Islands, and one subfamily – monotypic at genus level – is found...

 species which usually have black or indigo predominating in their plumage. The birds named "whydahs" have long or very long tails in the breeding male.

All are brood parasite

Brood parasite

Brood parasites are organisms that use the strategy of brood parasitism, a kind of kleptoparasitism found among birds, fish or insects, involving the manipulation and use of host individuals either of the same or different species to raise the young of the brood-parasite...

s, which lay their eggs in the nests of estrildid finch

Estrildid finch

The estrildid finches are small passerine birds of the Old World tropics and Australasia. They can be classified as the family Estrildidae , or as a sub-group within the family Passeridae, which also includes the true sparrows....

 species; most indigobirds use fire-finches as hosts, whereas the paradise whydahs chose pytilia

Pytilia

Pytilia is a genus of birds in the family Estrildidae, containing four species:* Orange-winged Pytilia, Pytilia afra* Red-winged Pytilia, Pytilia phoenicoptera* Green-winged Pytilia, Pytilia melba* Red-faced Pytilia, Pytilia hypogrammica...

s.

Unlike the cuckoo

Cuckoo

The cuckoos are a family, Cuculidae, of near passerine birds. The order Cuculiformes, in addition to the cuckoos, also includes the turacos . Some zoologists and taxonomists have also included the unique Hoatzin in the Cuculiformes, but its taxonomy remains in dispute...

, the indigobirds and whydahs do not destroy the host's eggs. Typically, they lay 2–4 eggs in with those already present. The eggs of both the host and the victim are white, although the indigobird's are slightly larger.

Many of the indigo-plumaged species named "indigobirds" are very similar in appearance, with the males difficult to separate in the field, and the young and females near impossible. The best guide is often the estrildid finch with which they are associating, since each indigobird parasitises a different host species. For example, the Village Indigobird

Village Indigobird

The Village Indigobird, Vidua chalybeata, is a small songbird. It is a resident breeding bird in most of Africa south of the Sahara Desert....

 is usually found with Red-billed Fire-finches.

Indigobirds and whydahs imitate their host's song, which the males learn in the nest. Although females do not sing, they also learn to recognise the song, and chose males with the same song, thus perpetuating the link between each species of indigobird and firefinch.

The nestling indigobirds mimic the unique gape

Gape

In bird anatomy, the gape is the interior of the open mouth of a bird and the gape flange is the region where the two mandibles join together, at the base of the beak...

 pattern of the fledglings of the host species.

The matching with the host is the driving force behind speciation in this family, but the close genetic and morphological similarities among species suggest that they are of recent origin.

Species

• Genus Vidua
  • Village Indigobird
    Village Indigobird
    The Village Indigobird, Vidua chalybeata, is a small songbird. It is a resident breeding bird in most of Africa south of the Sahara Desert....
    
    , Vidua chalybeata
  • Jambandu Indigobird
    Jambandu Indigobird
    The Jambandu Indigobird is a species of bird in the Viduidae family. It is also known as the Goldbreast Indigobird....
    
    , Vidua raricola
  • Barka Indigobird, Vidua larvaticola
  • Jos Plateau Indigobird
    Jos Plateau Indigobird
    The Jos Plateau Indigobird is a species of bird in the Viduidae family. It is endemic to Nigeria. It lays its eggs in the nest of the Rock Firefinch which is also restricted to Nigeria....
    
    , Vidua maryae
  • Quailfinch Indigobird
    Quailfinch Indigobird
    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....
    
    , Vidua nigeriae
  • Dusky Indigobird
    Dusky Indigobird
    The Purple Indigobird is a species of bird in the Viduidae family. It is also known as the Dusky Indigobird, a name which can refer to Vidua funerea. It is found in Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe...
    
     or Variable Indigobird, Vidua funerea
  • Zambezi Indigobird or Green Indigobird, Vidua codringtoni
  • Purple Indigobird or Dusky Indigobird, Vidua purpurascens
  • Wilson's Indigobird or Pale-winged Indigobird, Vidua wilsoni
  • Cameroon Indigobird
    Cameroon Indigobird
    The Cameroon Indigobird is a species of bird in the Viduidae family. It is considered by some authors to be a subspecies of the Variable Indigobird . Range Sierra Leone to east Cameroon, north east Zaire and southern Sudan....
    
    , Vidua camerunensis
  • Steel-blue Whydah
    Steel-blue Whydah
    The Steel-blue Whydah is a species of bird in the Viduidae family.It is found in Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda.Its natural habitat is dry savanna.-References:...
    
    , Vidua hypocherina
  • Straw-tailed Whydah
    Straw-tailed Whydah
    The Straw-tailed Whydah is a species of bird in the Viduidae family.It is found in Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda.Its natural habitat is dry savanna.-References:...
    
    , Vidua fischeri
  • Shaft-tailed Whydah, Vidua regia
  • Pin-tailed Whydah
    Pin-tailed Whydah
    The Pin-tailed Whydah, Vidua macroura, is a small songbird. It is a resident breeding bird in most of Africa south of the Sahara Desert.This whydah is found in many open habitats including open woodland, scrub and cultivation....
    
    , Vidua macroura
  • Togo Paradise Whydah, Vidua togoensis
  • Exclamatory Paradise Whydah or Long-tailed Paradise Whydah, Vidua interjecta
  • Long-tailed Paradise Whydah or Eastern Paradise Whydah, Vidua paradisaea
  • Sahel Paradise Whydah or Northern Paradise Whydah, Vidua orientalis
  • Broad-tailed Paradise Whydah, Vidua obtusa
• Genus Anamalospiza
  • Cuckoo Finch or Parasitic Weaver, Anomalospiza imberbis

External links

• Whydahs and Indigobirds (Viduidae) information, including 7 species with videos and 9 with photographs at the Internet Bird Collection
• Indigobirds.com