Alternative names: Baka Indigobird, Black-faced Firefinch Indigobird.
- Vidua larvaticola
Identification
Small, estrildid-sized finches, 10–11 cm (4-4¼ in)
Breeding male: mainly black with greenish gloss. remiges dark brown, bill white, legs pale grey.
Female/immature/non-breeding male: Dull sparrow-like plumage with broad pale supercilium and central crown stripe separated by darker eye- and malar-stripes.
Similar Species
Not safely separable from other indigobird species on sight. Identification dependent on recognition of mimicry of calls of Black-faced Firefinch (e.g. "tu-tu-tu-wheeet").
Distribution
Africa
Western Africa: Senegambia, south-eastern Senegal, The Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Mali, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, northern Democratic Republic of Congo
Eastern Africa: Sudan, western Ethiopia
Taxonomy
Part of the indigobird superspecies complex. Barka Indigobird regarded as monotypic.[1]
Habitat
As with host, Black-faced Firefinch, mainly savannah woodland.
Behaviour
Breeding
Brood parasite of Black-faced Firefinch Lagonosticta larvata, mimicking song of host. Gape pattern of nestlings exhibit remarkable replication of gape pattern of nestlings of host species.
Diet
They forage on the ground for small grass seeds.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2016. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2016, with updates to August 2016. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Avibase
- Davies, NB, 2000, Cuckoos, Cowbirds and other Cheats. London: Academic Press.
- Payne, RB, 2005, Nestling mouth markings and colors of old world finches Estrildidae: mimicry and coevolution of nesting finches and their Vidua brood parasites. Michigan: Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan.
- Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved November 2016)
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Barka Indigobird. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 25 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Barka_Indigobird
External Links
GSearch checked for 2020 platform.
