Vidua chalybeata
Village Indigobird
Subspecies and distribution:
V. c. chalybeata - West Africa
V. c. ultramarina - northeast Africa
V. c. centralis - East and Central Africa
V. c. amauropteryx - southern and East Africa
Morphology: (Payne 1996)
Plumage - green or blue (chalybeata)
purple (ultramarina)
steel-blue (centralis, amauropteryx)
Bill - white (chalybeata, ultramarina, centralis)
red (amauropteryx)
Legs - orange to red
Wing - black (chalybeata, ultramarina)
dark brown (centralis, amauropteryx)
Host:
Red-billed Firefinch (Lagonosticta senegala)
Brown Firefinch (Lagonosticta nitidula)
Host song mimicry: (Payne 1973, 1993, 1996)
Village Indigobirds mimic the clear, rising “pea-pea” whistles and the “chick-pea-pea-pea” song of the Red-billed Firefinch. The latter may rise and fall in pitch.