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 Arusha National Park
Village Indigobird
Vidua chalybeata
Pin-tailed Whydah
Vidua macroura
Common Bulbul
Pycnonotus barbatus
Tropical Boubou
Laniarius major
Northern Fiscal
Lanius humeralis
Variable Sunbird
Cinnyris venustus
African Dusky Flycatcher
Muscicapa adusta
Black Sawwing
Psalidoprocne pristoptera
Green-backed Camaroptera
Camaroptera brachyura
Black-backed Puffback
Dryoscopus cubla
White-eyed Slaty Flycatcher
Dioptrornis fischeri
Trilling Cisticola
Cisticola woosnami
📅 Monthly Probability
Fewer than 5 records of Long-tailed Paradise Whydah at Arusha National Park — 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