Shaft-tailed whydah male (Vidua regia) perching in a tree. Only the male grows the long tail feathers (lower right) and bright plumage, and only durin

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Shaft-tailed whydah male (Vidua regia) perching in a tree. Only the male grows the long tail feathers (lower right) and bright plumage, and only during the breeding season. This bird lives in the woodlands and grasslands of southern Africa, foraging on the ground for fallen seeds. The female lays its eggs, cuckoo-fashion, in the nest of a waxbill bird. The waxbill is fooled by the markings on the nestlings and rears the whydah young as its own. Photographed in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park of Botswana and South Africa.

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Size: 4472px × 3160px
Photo credit: © TONY CAMACHO/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: african, animal, bird, botswanan, feathers, gemsbok, kalahari, long-tailed, male, national, nature, parasite, parasitic, park, passerine, regia, shaft-tailed, south, tail, vidua, weaver, whydah, wildlife, zoology