Editing Viduidae

{{Short description|Family of birds}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| image = Pin-tailed whydah (Vidua macroura) male Sao Tome.jpg
| image_caption = [[Pin-tailed whydah]] (''Vidua macroura'')
| taxon = Viduidae
| authority = 
| subdivision_ranks = Genera
| subdivision = ''[[Vidua]]''<br />
''[[Anomalospiza]]''
}}

The '''indigobirds''', '''whydahs''' and [[cuckoo-finch]] make up the family '''Viduidae'''; they are small [[passerine]] birds native to [[Africa]].

These are [[Finch|finch-like]] species which usually have black or indigo predominating in their plumage. The birds named "whydahs"<ref>The [[yellow-mantled widowbird]] was the type species of its genus, and was originally named from the city of [[Ouidah]] in Benin. Nowadays the name whydah (i.e. Ouidah) is however applied to the long-tailed species of the Viduidae.</ref> have long or very long tails in the breeding male.

All are obligate [[brood parasite]]s, which lay their eggs in the nests of [[songbird]] species; most indigobirds use [[firefinch]]es as hosts, whereas the paradise whydahs choose [[pytilia]]s and the cuckoo-finch parasitises [[cisticolid]]s. Unlike the [[cuckoo]]s and [[honeyguide]]s, the indigobirds and whydahs do not destroy the host's eggs. Typically, they lay 2&ndash;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]] is usually found with [[red-billed firefinch]]es. 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 choose males with the same song, thus perpetuating the link between each species of indigobird and firefinch. The nestling indigobirds mimic the unique [[gape]] 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.

The family contains two genera:<ref name=ioc>{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | year=2018 | title=Waxbills, parrotfinches, munias, whydahs, Olive Warbler, accentors, pipits | work=World Bird List Version 8.1 | url=http://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/waxbills/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | access-date=2 May 2018 }}</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Image !! Genus   !! Living Species
|-
|[[File:Pin-tailed whydah (Vidua macroura) breeding male.jpg|175px]]||'''''[[Vidua]]''''' {{small|Cuvier, 1816}}|| 
* [[Village indigobird]], ''Vidua chalybeata''
* [[Purple indigobird]], ''Vidua purpurascens''
* [[Jambandu indigobird]], ''Vidua raricola''
* [[Barka indigobird]], ''Vidua larvaticola''
* [[Dusky indigobird]], ''Vidua funerea''
* [[Zambezi indigobird]] ''Vidua codringtoni''
* [[Wilson's indigobird]], ''Vidua wilsoni''
* [[Quailfinch indigobird]], ''Vidua nigeriae''
* [[Jos Plateau indigobird]], ''Vidua maryae''
* [[Cameroon indigobird]], ''Vidua camerunensis''
* [[Pin-tailed whydah]], ''Vidua macroura''
* [[Steel-blue whydah]], ''Vidua hypocherina''
* [[Straw-tailed whydah]], ''Vidua fischeri''
* [[Shaft-tailed whydah]], ''Vidua regia''
* [[Long-tailed paradise whydah]], ''Vidua paradisaea''
* [[Sahel paradise whydah]], ''Vidua orientalis''
* [[Exclamatory paradise whydah]], ''Vidua interjecta''
* [[Togo paradise whydah]], ''Vidua togoensis''
* [[Broad-tailed paradise whydah]], ''Vidua obtusa'' 
|-
|[[File:Parasitic Weaver (Anomalospiza imberbis).jpg|175px]]||'''''[[Anomalospiza]]''''' {{small|Shelley, 1901}}|| 
*[[Cuckoo-finch]] or parasitic weaver, ''Anomalospiza imberbis''
|-
|}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
*{{cite book|first=Robert|last=Payne|author-link=Robert Payne (ornithologist)|editor1=del Hoyo, Josep |editor2=Elliott, Andrew |editor3=Christie, David|chapter=Family Viduidae (Whydahs and Indigobirds)| title=[[Handbook of the Birds of the World]] Volume 15: Weavers to New World Warblers|year=2010|location=Barcelona|publisher=Lynx Edicions|isbn=978-84-96553-45-3 | chapter-url=http://www.lynxeds.com/hbw/family-text/hbw15-family-text-viduidae-whydahs-and-indigobirds }}

==External links==
* [http://ibc.lynxeds.com/family/whydahs-indigobirds-viduidae Whydahs and indigobirds (Viduidae)] information, including 7 species with videos and 9 with photographs at the [http://ibc.lynxeds.com Internet Bird Collection]
*[http://www.indigobirds.com Indigobirds.com]

{{Brood parasite}}
{{Viduidae}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q577363}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Viduidae| ]]
[[Category:Bird families]]
[[Category:Brood parasites]]
[[Category:Birds of Sub-Saharan Africa]]