Village Indigobird

Overview

The Vidua chalybeata, also known as the steelblue widowfinch, is a small songbird belonging to the family Viduidae. It is classified as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List and is distinguished from other indigobirds by its bill and leg colours, the colour tinge of the male's breeding plumage, and its song.

Identification

• Adult males are entirely greenish-black or bluish-black with orange-red legs and a conical white or red bill.
• Females resemble female house sparrows with streaked brown upperparts, buff underparts, a whitish supercilium, a yellowish bill, and red legs.
• Song consists of rapid sputtering and churring, often mimicking the characteristic 'chick-pea-pea-pea' of the red-billed firefinch.
• Distinguishable from similar species by the colour tinge of the male's plumage, bill and leg colours, and association with red-billed firefinch habitats.

Habitat

It is a resident breeding bird found in most of Africa south of the Sahara Desert. The species inhabits open environments such as open woodland, scrub, and cultivation areas, and is most readily seen near villages.

Diet

The diet of this species consists of seeds and grain.

Did you know?

As a brood parasite, it lays its eggs in the nests of red-billed firefinches but, unlike the common cuckoo, it does not destroy the host's eggs. The nestling indigobirds mimic the unique gape pattern of the host species' fledglings to secure feeding.