Fan-tailed widowbird


The fan-tailed widowbird, also known as the red-shouldered widowbird, is a species of bird in the family Ploceidae, which is native to grassy and swampy areas of the tropical and subtropical Afrotropics.

Range

It is found in Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Republic of the Congo, DRC, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

Races

There are five accepted races:E. a. subsp. bocagei – West Africa from Mali to CAR and DRC, and southwards to the Caprivi Strip, Okavango and upper Zambezi regions.E. a. subsp. phoeniceus – East Africa E. a. subsp. traversii – Ethiopian HighlandsE. a. subsp. zanzibaricus – African east coast E. a. subsp. axillaris – southeastern Africa