81-453: The red-billed quelea ( / ˈ k w iː l i ə / ; Quelea quelea ), also known as the red-billed weaver or red-billed dioch , is a small—approximately 12 cm (4.7 in) long and weighing 15–26 g (0.53–0.92 oz)—migratory, sparrow-like bird of the weaver family, Ploceidae , native to Sub-Saharan Africa . It was named by Linnaeus in 1758, who considered it a bunting , but Ludwig Reichenbach assigned it in 1850 to
162-764: A better sense of smell. A third stage of bird evolution starting with Ornithothoraces (the "bird-chested" avialans) can be associated with the refining of aerodynamics and flight capabilities, and the loss or co-ossification of several skeletal features. Particularly significant are the development of an enlarged, keeled sternum and the alula , and the loss of grasping hands. † Anchiornis † Archaeopteryx † Xiaotingia † Rahonavis † Jeholornis † Jixiangornis † Balaur † Zhongjianornis † Sapeornis † Confuciusornithiformes † Protopteryx † Pengornis Ornithothoraces † Enantiornithes Combinatio nova Combinatio nova , abbreviated comb. nov. (sometimes n. comb. ),
243-473: A definition similar to "all theropods closer to birds than to Deinonychus ", with Troodon being sometimes added as a second external specifier in case it is closer to birds than to Deinonychus . Avialae is also occasionally defined as an apomorphy-based clade (that is, one based on physical characteristics). Jacques Gauthier , who named Avialae in 1986, re-defined it in 2001 as all dinosaurs that possessed feathered wings used in flapping flight , and
324-414: A four-chambered heart , and a strong yet lightweight skeleton . Birds live worldwide and range in size from the 5.5 cm (2.2 in) bee hummingbird to the 2.8 m (9 ft 2 in) common ostrich . There are over 11,000 living species and they are split into 44 orders . More than half are passerine or "perching" birds. Birds have wings whose development varies according to species;
405-442: A group called Paraves . Some basal members of Deinonychosauria, such as Microraptor , have features which may have enabled them to glide or fly. The most basal deinonychosaurs were very small. This evidence raises the possibility that the ancestor of all paravians may have been arboreal , have been able to glide, or both. Unlike Archaeopteryx and the non-avialan feathered dinosaurs, who primarily ate meat, studies suggest that
486-442: A large scale. Red-billed queleas have also been observed feeding on crushed corn from cattle feedlots , but entire maize kernels are too big for them to swallow. A single bird may eat about 15 g (0.53 oz) in seeds each day. As much as half of the diet of nestlings consists of insects, such as grasshoppers, ants, beetles, bugs, caterpillars, flies and termites, as well as snails and spiders. Insects are generally eaten during
567-428: A narrow naked red ring and a brown iris . The legs are orangey in colour. The bill is bright raspberry red. Outside the breeding season, the male lacks bright colours; it has a grey-brown head with dark streaks, whitish chin and throat, and a faint light stripe above the eyes. At this time, the bill becomes pink or dull red and the legs turn flesh-coloured. The females resemble the males in non-breeding plumage, but have
648-650: A separate species, Q. russii by Otto Finsch in 1877 and named after the aviculturist Karl Russ . Three subspecies are recognised. In the field, these are distinguished by differences in male breeding plumage. Formerly, two other subspecies have been described. Q. quelea spoliator was described by Phillip Clancey in 1960 on the basis of more greyish nonbreeding plumage of populations of wetter habitats of northeastern South Africa, Eswatini and southern Mozambique. However, further analysis indicated no clear distinction in plumage between it and Q. quelea lathamii , with no evidence of genetic isolation. Hence it
729-426: A shallow awning. About six to seven hundred fresh, green grass strips are used for each nest. This species may nest several times per year when conditions are favourable. In the breeding season, males are diversely coloured. These differences in plumage do not signal condition , probably serving instead for the recognition of individual birds. However, the intensity of the red on the bills is regarded an indicator of
810-456: A single tree have been counted. At Malilangwe in Zimbabwe one colony was 20 km (12 mi) long and 1 km (0.6 mi) wide. In southern Africa, suitable branches are stripped of leaves a few days in advance of the onset of nest construction. The male starts the nest by creating a ring of grass by twining strips around both branches of a hanging forked twig, and from there bridging
891-406: A sister group, the order Crocodilia , contain the only living representatives of the reptile clade Archosauria . During the late 1990s, Aves was most commonly defined phylogenetically as all descendants of the most recent common ancestor of modern birds and Archaeopteryx lithographica . However, an earlier definition proposed by Jacques Gauthier gained wide currency in the 21st century, and
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#1732780216746972-473: A successful search, they settle to feed. In the heat of the day, they rest in the shade, preferably near water, and preen. Birds seem to prefer drinking at least twice a day. In the evening, they once again fly off in search of food. Natural enemies of the red-billed quelea include other birds, snakes, warthogs, squirrels, galagos , monkeys, mongooses , genets , civets , foxes, jackals, hyaenas, cats, lions and leopards. Bird species that prey on queleas include
1053-717: A time, sometimes for years, and rarely for life. Other species have breeding systems that are polygynous (one male with many females) or, rarely, polyandrous (one female with many males). Birds produce offspring by laying eggs which are fertilised through sexual reproduction . They are usually laid in a nest and incubated by the parents. Most birds have an extended period of parental care after hatching. Many species of birds are economically important as food for human consumption and raw material in manufacturing, with domesticated and undomesticated birds being important sources of eggs, meat, and feathers. Songbirds , parrots, and other species are popular as pets. Guano (bird excrement)
1134-535: A warbling tweedle-toodle-tweedle . The red-billed quelea is mostly found in tropical and subtropical areas with a seasonal semi-arid climate , resulting in dry thornbush grassland, including the Sahel , and its distribution covers most of sub-Saharan Africa. It avoids forests, however, including miombo woodlands and rainforests such as those in central Africa, and is generally absent from western parts of South Africa and arid coastal regions of Namibia and Angola. It
1215-541: A waterhole were grabbed from below by African helmeted turtles in Etosha . Among the invertebrates that kill and eat youngsters are the armoured bush cricket ( Acanthoplus discoidalis ) and the scorpion Cheloctonus jonesii . Internal parasites found in queleas include Haemoproteus and Plasmodium . The red-billed quelea is caught and eaten in many parts of Africa. Around Lake Chad , three traditional methods are used to catch red-billed queleas. Trappers belonging to
1296-508: A white mask. The mask is surrounded by a variable band of yellow, rusty, pink or purple. White masks are sometimes bordered by black. This colouring may only reach the lower throat or extend along the belly, with the rest of the underparts light brown or whitish with some dark stripes. The upperparts have light and dark brown longitudinal stripes, particularly at midlength, and are paler on the rump. The tail and upper wing are dark brown. The flight feathers are edged greenish or yellow. The eye has
1377-423: A yellow or orangey bill and eye-ring during the breeding season. At other times, the female bill is pink or dull red. Newborns have white bills and are almost naked with some wisps of down on the top of the head and the shoulders. The eyes open during the fourth day, at the same time as the first feathers appear. Older nestlings have a horn-coloured bill with a hint of lavender, though it turns orange-purple before
1458-538: A yellowish bill. Breeding males have a black (or rarely white) facial mask, surrounded by a purplish, pinkish, rusty or yellowish wash on the head and breast. The species avoids forests, deserts and colder areas such as those at high altitude and in southern South Africa. It constructs oval roofed nests woven from strips of grass hanging from thorny branches, sugar cane or reeds. It breeds in very large colonies. The quelea feeds primarily on seeds of annual grasses, but also causes extensive damage to cereal crops. Therefore, it
1539-413: Is Latin for "new combination". It is used in taxonomic biology literature when a new name is introduced based on a pre-existing name. The term should not be confused with species nova , used for a previously unnamed species. The new combination replaces the superseded combination . There are three situations: When an earlier named species is assigned to a different genus, the new genus name
1620-610: Is least concern according to the IUCN Red List . The red-billed quelea was one of the many birds described originally by Linnaeus in the landmark 1758 10th edition of his Systema Naturae . Classifying it in the bunting genus Emberiza , he gave it the binomial name of Emberiza quelea . He incorrectly mentioned that it originated in India, probably because ships from the East Indies picked up birds when visiting
1701-423: Is a small sparrow-like bird, approximately 12 cm (4.7 in) long and weighing 15–26 g (0.53–0.92 oz), with a heavy, cone-shaped bill, which is red (in females outside the breeding season and males) or orange to yellow (females during the breeding season). Over 75% of males have a black facial "mask", comprising a black forehead, cheeks, lores and higher parts of the throat. Occasionally males have
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#17327802167461782-540: Is called ornithology . Birds are feathered theropod dinosaurs and constitute the only known living dinosaurs . Likewise, birds are considered reptiles in the modern cladistic sense of the term, and their closest living relatives are the crocodilians . Birds are descendants of the primitive avialans (whose members include Archaeopteryx ) which first appeared during the Late Jurassic . According to recent estimates, modern birds ( Neornithes ) evolved in
1863-429: Is harvested for use as a fertiliser. Birds figure throughout human culture. About 120 to 130 species have become extinct due to human activity since the 17th century, and hundreds more before then. Human activity threatens about 1,200 bird species with extinction, though efforts are underway to protect them. Recreational birdwatching is an important part of the ecotourism industry. The first classification of birds
1944-440: Is much variability within subspecies, and some birds cannot be ascribed to a subspecies based on outward appearance alone. Because of interbreeding, specimens intermediate between subspecies may occur where the ranges of the subspecies overlap, such as at Lake Chad. The female pin-tailed whydah could be mistaken for the red-billed quelea in non-breeding plumage, since both are sparrow-like birds with conical red-coloured bills, but
2025-503: Is not considered a direct ancestor of birds, though it is possibly closely related to the true ancestor. Over 40% of key traits found in modern birds evolved during the 60 million year transition from the earliest bird-line archosaurs to the first maniraptoromorphs , i.e. the first dinosaurs closer to living birds than to Tyrannosaurus rex . The loss of osteoderms otherwise common in archosaurs and acquisition of primitive feathers might have occurred early during this phase. After
2106-675: Is not recognised as distinct. Q. quelea intermedia , described by Anton Reichenow in 1886 from east Africa, is regarded a synonym of subspecies aethiopica . Linnaeus himself did not explain the name quelea . Quelea quelea is locally called kwelea domo-jekundu in Swahili , enzunge in Kwangali , chimokoto in Shona , inyonyane in Siswati , thaha in Sesotho and ndzheyana in
2187-409: Is regarded as the most numerous undomesticated bird on earth, with the total post-breeding population sometimes peaking at an estimated 1.5 billion individuals. It feeds in huge flocks of millions of individuals, with birds that run out of food at the rear flying over the entire group to a fresh feeding zone at the front, creating an image of a rolling cloud. The conservation status of red-billed quelea
2268-401: Is regarded as the most numerous undomesticated bird on earth, with the total post-breeding population sometimes peaking at an estimated 1.5 billion individuals. The species is specialised on feeding on seeds of annual grass species, which may be ripe, or still green, but have not germinated yet. Since the availability of these seeds varies with time and space, occurring in particular weeks after
2349-421: Is sometimes called "Africa's feathered locust ". The usual pest-control measures are spraying avicides or detonating fire-bombs in the enormous colonies during the night. Extensive control measures have been largely unsuccessful in limiting the quelea population. When food runs out, the species migrates to locations of recent rainfall and plentiful grass seed; hence it exploits its food source very efficiently. It
2430-516: Is synonymous to Avifilopluma. † Scansoriopterygidae † Eosinopteryx † Jinfengopteryx † Aurornis † Dromaeosauridae † Troodontidae Avialae Based on fossil and biological evidence, most scientists accept that birds are a specialised subgroup of theropod dinosaurs and, more specifically, members of Maniraptora , a group of theropods which includes dromaeosaurids and oviraptorosaurs , among others. As scientists have discovered more theropods closely related to birds,
2511-535: Is used by many scientists including adherents to the PhyloCode . Gauthier defined Aves to include only the crown group of the set of modern birds. This was done by excluding most groups known only from fossils , and assigning them, instead, to the broader group Avialae, on the principle that a clade based on extant species should be limited to those extant species and their closest extinct relatives. Gauthier and de Queiroz identified four different definitions for
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2592-470: The Hadjerai tribe use triangular hand-held nets, which are both selective and efficient. Each team of six trappers caught about twenty thousand birds each night. An estimated five to ten million queleas are trapped near N'Djamena each year, representing a market value of approximately US$ 37,500–75,000. Between 13 June and 21 August 1994 alone, 1.2 million queleas were caught. Birds were taken from roosts in
2673-503: The International Red Locust Control Organization for Central and Southern Africa (IRLCO-CSA), which make their aircraft available for this purpose. Bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves ( Latin: [ˈaveːs] ), characterised by feathers , toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate,
2754-722: The Late Cretaceous and diversified dramatically around the time of the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event 66 million years ago, which killed off the pterosaurs and all non- ornithuran dinosaurs. Many social species preserve knowledge across generations ( culture ). Birds are social, communicating with visual signals, calls, and songs , and participating in such behaviour as cooperative breeding and hunting, flocking , and mobbing of predators. The vast majority of bird species are socially (but not necessarily sexually) monogamous , usually for one breeding season at
2835-669: The Tiaojishan Formation of China, which has been dated to the late Jurassic period ( Oxfordian stage), about 160 million years ago. The avialan species from this time period include Anchiornis huxleyi , Xiaotingia zhengi , and Aurornis xui . The well-known probable early avialan, Archaeopteryx , dates from slightly later Jurassic rocks (about 155 million years old) from Germany . Many of these early avialans shared unusual anatomical features that may be ancestral to modern birds but were later lost during bird evolution. These features include enlarged claws on
2916-562: The Tsonga language . M.W. Jeffreys suggested that the term came from medieval Latin qualea , meaning "quail", linking the prodigious numbers of queleas to the hordes of quail that fed the Israelites during the Exodus from Egypt. The subspecies lathamii is probably named in honor of the ornithologist John Latham . The name of the subspecies aethiopica refers to Ethiopia, and its type
2997-473: The lanner falcon , tawny eagle and marabou stork . The diederik cuckoo is a brood parasite that probably lays eggs in nests of queleas. Some predators, such as snakes, raid nests and eat eggs and chicks. Nile crocodiles sometimes attack drinking queleas, and an individual in Ethiopia hit birds out of the vegetation on the bank into the water with its tail, subsequently eating them. Queleas drinking at
3078-526: The African coast during their return voyage to Europe. It is likely that he had seen a draft of Ornithologia, sive Synopsis methodica sistens avium divisionem in ordines, sectiones, genera, species, ipsarumque varietates , a book written by Mathurin Jacques Brisson that was to be published in 1760, and which contained a black and white drawing of the species. The erroneous type locality of India
3159-703: The Lake Chad Basin) is deemed insignificant. Woven traps made from star grass ( Cynodon nlemfuensis ) are used to catch hundreds of these birds daily in the Kondoa District , Tanzania. Guano is collected from under large roosts in Nigeria and used as a fertiliser. Tourists like to watch the large flocks of queleas, such as during visits of the Kruger National Park . The birds themselves eat pest insects such as migratory locusts , and
3240-432: The animal's quality and social dominance. Red-billed quelea males mate with one female only within one breeding cycle. There are usually three eggs in each clutch (though the full range is one to five) of approximately 18 mm (0.71 in) long and 13 mm (0.51 in) in diameter. The eggs are light bluish or greenish in colour, sometimes with some dark spots. Some clutches contain six eggs, but large clutches may be
3321-428: The appearance of Maniraptoromorpha, the next 40 million years marked a continuous reduction of body size and the accumulation of neotenic (juvenile-like) characteristics. Hypercarnivory became increasingly less common while braincases enlarged and forelimbs became longer. The integument evolved into complex, pennaceous feathers . The oldest known paravian (and probably the earliest avialan) fossils come from
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3402-509: The birds that descended from them. Despite being currently one of the most widely used, the crown-group definition of Aves has been criticised by some researchers. Lee and Spencer (1997) argued that, contrary to what Gauthier defended, this definition would not increase the stability of the clade and the exact content of Aves will always be uncertain because any defined clade (either crown or not) will have few synapomorphies distinguishing it from its closest relatives. Their alternative definition
3483-533: The breeding season, though winged termites are eaten at other times. Breeding females consume snail-shell fragments and calcareous grit, presumably to enable egg-shell formation. One colony in Namibia, of an estimated five million adults and five million chicks, was calculated to consume roughly 13 t (29,000 lb) of insects and 1,000 t (2,200,000 lb) of grass seeds during its breeding cycle. At sunrise they form flocks that co-operate to find food. After
3564-446: The cage facilitates nesting. Adults are typically given a diet of tropical seeds enriched with grass seeds, augmented by living insects such as mealworms , spiders, or boiled shredded egg during the breeding season. Fine stone grit and calcium sources, such as shell grit and cuttlebone , provide nutrients as well. If provided with material like fresh grass or coconut fibre they can be bred. Sometimes called "Africa's feathered locust",
3645-399: The chicks hatch, they are fed for some days with protein -rich insects. Later the nestlings mainly get seeds. The young birds fledge after about two weeks in the nest. They are sexually mature in one year. Flocks of red-billed queleas usually feed on the ground, with birds in the rear constantly leap-frogging those in the front to exploit the next strip of fallen seeds. This behaviour creates
3726-665: The earliest members of Aves, is removed from this group, becoming a non-avian dinosaur instead. These proposals have been adopted by many researchers in the field of palaeontology and bird evolution , though the exact definitions applied have been inconsistent. Avialae, initially proposed to replace the traditional fossil content of Aves, is often used synonymously with the vernacular term "bird" by these researchers. † Coelurus † Ornitholestes † Ornithomimosauria † Alvarezsauridae † Oviraptorosauria Paraves Most researchers define Avialae as branch-based clade, though definitions vary. Many authors have used
3807-451: The first avialans were omnivores . The Late Jurassic Archaeopteryx is well known as one of the first transitional fossils to be found, and it provided support for the theory of evolution in the late 19th century. Archaeopteryx was the first fossil to display both clearly traditional reptilian characteristics—teeth, clawed fingers, and a long, lizard-like tail—as well as wings with flight feathers similar to those of modern birds. It
3888-416: The gaps in the circle his beak can reach, having one foot on each of the branchlets, using the same footholds and the same orientation throughout the building process. Two parallel stems of reeds or sugar cane can also be used to attach the nest from. They use both their bills and feet in adding the initial knots needed. As soon as the ring is finished the male displays, trying to attract a female, after which
3969-465: The impression of a rolling cloud, and enables efficient exploitation of the available food. The birds also take seeds from the grass ears directly. They prefer grains of 1–2 mm (0.04–0.08 in) in size. Red-billed queleas feed mainly on grass seeds, which includes a large number of annual species from the genera Echinochloa , Panicum , Setaria , Sorghum , Tetrapogon and Urochloa . One survey at Lake Chad showed that two-thirds of
4050-495: The local off-set of rains, queleas migrate as a strategy to ensure year-round food availability. The consumption of a lot of food with a high energy content is needed for the queleas to gain enough fat to allow migration to new feeding areas. When breeding, it selects areas such as lowveld with thorny or spiny vegetation—typically Acacia species—below 1,000 m (3,300 ft) elevation. While foraging for food, they may fly 50–65 km (31–40 mi) each day and return to
4131-410: The male breeding plumage. In the typical subspecies, Q. quelea quelea , breeding males have a buff crown, nape and underparts and the black mask extends high up the forehead. In Q. quelea lathamii the mask also extends high up the forehead, but the underparts are mainly white. In Q. quelea aethiopica the mask does not extend far above the bill, and the underparts may have a pink wash. There
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#17327802167464212-643: The moth species Helicoverpa armigera and Spodoptera exempta . The animal's large distribution and population resulted in a conservation status listed as least concern on the IUCN Red List . The red-billed quelea is sometimes kept and bred in captivity by hobbyists. It thrives if kept in large and high cages, with space to fly to minimise the risk of obesity. A sociable bird, the red-billed quelea tolerates mixed-species aviaries. Keeping many individuals mimics its natural occurrence in large flocks. This species withstands frosts, but requires shelter from rain and wind. Affixing hanging branches, such as hawthorn, in
4293-439: The nearest body of water. It is found in wet habitats, congregating at the shores of waterbodies, such as Lake Ngami , during flooding. It needs shrubs, reeds or trees to nest and roost . Red-billed queleas migrate seasonally over long distances in anticipation of the availability of their main natural food source, seeds of annual grasses. The presence of these grass seeds is the result of the beginning of rains weeks earlier, and
4374-404: The nest may be completed in two days. The nest chamber is created in front of the ring. The entrance may be constructed after the egg laying has started, while the male works from the outside. A finished nest looks like a small oval or globular ball of grass, around 18 cm (7 in) high and 16 cm (6 in) wide, with a 2.5 cm (1 in) wide entrance high up one side, sheltered by
4455-409: The new genus Quelea . Three subspecies are recognised, with Quelea quelea quelea occurring roughly from Senegal to Chad, Q. q. aethiopica from Sudan to Somalia and Tanzania, and Q. q. lathamii from Gabon to Mozambique and South Africa. Non-breeding birds have light underparts, striped brown upper parts, yellow-edged flight feathers and a reddish bill. Breeding females attain
4536-741: The northwest. In eastern Africa, the subspecies aethiopica is thought to consist of two sub-populations. One moves from Central Tanzania to southern Somalia, to return to breed in Tanzania in February and March, followed by successive migrations to breed ever further north, the season's last usually occurring in central Kenya during May. The second group moves from northern and central Sudan and central Ethiopia in May and June, to breed in southern Sudan, South Sudan, southern Ethiopia and northern Kenya, moving back north from August to October. In southern Africa,
4617-523: The only known groups without wings are the extinct moa and elephant birds . Wings, which are modified forelimbs , gave birds the ability to fly, although further evolution has led to the loss of flight in some birds , including ratites , penguins , and diverse endemic island species. The digestive and respiratory systems of birds are also uniquely adapted for flight. Some bird species of aquatic environments, particularly seabirds and some waterbirds , have further evolved for swimming. The study of birds
4698-402: The outermost half) can be seen in the evolution of maniraptoromorphs, and this process culminated in the appearance of the pygostyle , an ossification of fused tail vertebrae. In the late Cretaceous, about 100 million years ago, the ancestors of all modern birds evolved a more open pelvis, allowing them to lay larger eggs compared to body size. Around 95 million years ago, they evolved
4779-470: The post-juvenile moult. Young birds change feathers two to three months after hatching, after which the plumage resembles that of non-breeding adults, although the head is grey, the cheeks whitish, and wing coverts and flight feathers have buff margins. At an age of about five months they moult again and their plumage starts to look like that of breeding adults, with a pinkish-purple bill. Different subspecies are distinguished by different colour patterns of
4860-536: The previously clear distinction between non-birds and birds has become blurred. By the 2000s, discoveries in the Liaoning Province of northeast China, which demonstrated many small theropod feathered dinosaurs , contributed to this ambiguity. The consensus view in contemporary palaeontology is that the flying theropods, or avialans , are the closest relatives of the deinonychosaurs , which include dromaeosaurids and troodontids . Together, these form
4941-415: The rainfall varies in a seasonal geographic pattern. The temporarily wet areas do not form a single zone that periodically moves back and forth across the entirety of Sub-Saharan Africa, but rather consist of five or six regions, within which the wet areas "move" or "jump". Red-billed quelea populations thus migrate between the temporarily wet areas within each of these five to six geographical regions. Each of
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#17327802167465022-404: The rainy season has already passed and the grass has produced new seeds. After about six weeks, the birds migrate northwards to find a suitable breeding area, nurture a generation, and then repeat this sequence moving further north. Some populations may also move northwards when the rains have started, to eat the remaining ungerminated seeds. In Senegal migration is probably between the southeast and
5103-508: The red-billed quelea is considered a serious agricultural pest in Sub-Saharan Africa . The governments of Botswana, Ethiopia, Kenya, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe have regularly made attempts to lessen quelea populations. The most common method to kill members of problematic flocks was by spraying the organophosphate avicide fenthion from the air on breeding colonies and roosts. In Botswana and Zimbabwe, spraying
5184-413: The red-billed quelea is the sister group of a clade that contains both other remaining species of the genus Quelea , namely the cardinal quelea ( Q. cardinalis ) and the red-headed quelea ( Q. erythrops ). The genus belongs to the group of true weavers (subfamily Ploceinae), and is most closely related to the fodies ( Foudia ), a genus of six or seven species that occur on the islands of
5265-412: The result of other females dumping an egg in a stranger's nest. Both sexes share the incubation of the eggs during the day, but the female alone does so during the cool night, and feeds during the day when air temperatures are high enough to sustain the development of the embryo. The breeding cycle of the red-billed quelea is one of the shortest known in any bird. Incubation takes nine or ten days. After
5346-452: The roosting or nesting site in the evening. Small groups of red-billed queleas often mix with different weaver birds ( Ploceus ) and bishops ( Euplectes ), and in western Africa they may join the Sudan golden sparrow ( Passer luteus ) and various estrildids . Red-billed queleas may also roost together with weavers, estrildids and barn swallows. Their life expectancy is two to three years in
5427-452: The same biological name "Aves", which is a problem. The authors proposed to reserve the term Aves only for the crown group consisting of the last common ancestor of all living birds and all of its descendants, which corresponds to meaning number 4 below. They assigned other names to the other groups. Lizards & snakes Turtles Crocodiles Birds Under the fourth definition Archaeopteryx , traditionally considered one of
5508-551: The second toe which may have been held clear of the ground in life, and long feathers or "hind wings" covering the hind limbs and feet, which may have been used in aerial maneuvering. Avialans diversified into a wide variety of forms during the Cretaceous period. Many groups retained primitive characteristics , such as clawed wings and teeth, though the latter were lost independently in a number of avialan groups, including modern birds (Aves). Increasingly stiff tails (especially
5589-548: The seeds eaten belonged to only three species: African wild rice ( Oryza barthii ), Sorghum purpureosericeum and jungle rice ( Echinochloa colona ). When the supply of these seeds runs out, seeds of cereals such as barley ( Hordeum disticum ), teff ( Eragrostis tef ), sorghum ( Sorghum bicolor ), manna ( Setaria italica ), millet ( Panicum miliaceum ), rice ( Oryza sativa ), wheat ( Triticum ), oats ( Avena aestiva ), as well as buckwheat ( Phagopyrum esculentum ) and sunflower ( Helianthus annuus ) are eaten on
5670-467: The species in colour, based on a live male specimen owned by a Mrs Clayton in Surrey. He called it the "Brazilian sparrow", despite being unsure whether it came from Brazil or Angola . In 1850, Ludwig Reichenbach thought the species was not a true bunting , but rather a weaver, and created the genus name Quelea , as well as the new combination Q. quelea . The white-faced morph was described as
5751-480: The subspecies, as distinguished by different male breeding plumage, is confined to one or more of these geographical regions. In Nigeria, the nominate subspecies generally travels 300–600 km (190–370 mi) southwards during the start of the rains in the north during June and July, when the grass seed germinates, and is no longer eaten by the queleas. When they reach the Benoue River valley, for instance,
5832-548: The total population of the subspecies Q. quelea lathamii in October converges on the Zimbabwean Highveld . In November, part of the population migrates to the northwest to northwestern Angola, while the remainder migrates to the southeast to southern Mozambique and eastern South-Africa, but no proof has been found that these migration cohorts are genetically or morphologically divergent. The red-billed quelea
5913-411: The trees during the moonless period each night. The feathers were plucked and the carcasses fried the following morning, dried in the sun, and transported to the city to be sold on the market. The Sara people use standing fishing nets with a very fine mesh, while Masa and Musgum fishermen cast nets over groups of birds. The impact of hunting on the quelea population (about 200 million individuals in
5994-541: The western Indian Ocean . These two genera are in turn the sister clade to the Asian species of the genus Ploceus . The following tree represents current insight of the relationships between the species of Quelea , and their closest relatives. Q. quelea Q. cardinalis Q. erythrops genus Foudia Asian species of the genus Ploceus Interbreeding between red-billed and red-headed queleas has been observed in captivity. The red-billed quelea
6075-414: The whydah has a whitish brow between a black stripe through the eye and a black stripe above. [REDACTED] Flying flocks make a distinct sound due to the many wing beats. After arriving at the roost or nest site, birds keep moving around and make a lot of noise for about half an hour before settling in. Both males and females call. The male sings in short bursts, starting with some chatter, followed by
6156-577: The wild, but one captive bird lived for eighteen years. The red-billed quelea needs 300–800 mm (12–31 in) of precipitation to breed, with nest building usually commencing four to nine weeks after the onset of the rains. Nests are usually built in stands of thorny trees such as umbrella thorn acacia ( Vachellia tortilis ), blackthorn ( Senegalia mellifera ) and sicklebush ( Dichrostachys cinerea ), but sometimes in sugar cane fields or reeds. Colonies can consist of millions of nests, in densities of 30,000 per ha (12,000 per acre). Over 6000 nests in
6237-559: Was also executed from ground vehicles and manually. Kenya and South Africa regularly used fire-bombs. Attempts during the 1950s and '60s to eradicate populations, at least regionally, failed. Consequently, management is at present directed at removing those congregations that are likely to attack vulnerable fields. In eastern and southern Africa, the control of quelea is often coordinated by the Desert Locust Control Organization for Eastern Africa (DLCO-EA) and
6318-615: Was collected in the neighbouring Sennar province in today's Sudan. "Red-billed quelea" has been designated the official name by the International Ornithological Committee (IOC). Other names in English include black-faced dioch, cardinal, common dioch, Latham's weaver-bird, pink-billed weaver, quelea finch, quelea weaver, red-billed dioch, red-billed weaver, Russ' weaver, South-African dioch, Sudan dioch and Uganda dioch. Based on recent DNA analysis ,
6399-546: Was corrected to Africa in the 12th edition of Systema Naturae of 1766, and Brisson was cited . Brisson mentions that the bird originates from Senegal, where it had been collected by Michel Adanson during his 1748-1752 expedition. He called the bird Moineau à bec rouge du Senegal in French and Passer senegalensis erythrorynchos in Latin, both meaning "red-billed Senegalese sparrow". Also in 1766, George Edwards illustrated
6480-466: Was developed by Francis Willughby and John Ray in their 1676 volume Ornithologiae . Carl Linnaeus modified that work in 1758 to devise the taxonomic classification system currently in use. Birds are categorised as the biological class Aves in Linnaean taxonomy . Phylogenetic taxonomy places Aves in the clade Theropoda as an infraclass or a subclass, more recently a subclass. Aves and
6561-412: Was introduced to the island of Réunion in 2000. Occasionally, it can be found as high as 3,000 m (9,800 ft) above sea-level, but mostly resides below 1,500 m (4,900 ft). It visits agricultural areas, where it feeds on cereal crops, although it is thought to prefer seeds of wild annual grasses. It needs to drink daily and can only be found within about 30 km (19 mi) distance of
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