Cardinal quelea
Quelea cardinalis (Hartlaub, 1880)
The cardinal quelea (Quelea cardinalis) is a species in the family Ploceidae, order Passeriformes. Recorded adults weigh 12.5 g to 12.9 g. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.
Quick facts about the cardinal quelea
- Weight
- 12.5 g – 12.9 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Diet
- Granivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- grasslandsrc for Habitat
- Young per litter or clutch
- 2.7src for Young per litter or clutch
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Partialsrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Where does the cardinal quelea live?
Not recorded
What is the cardinal quelea?
The cardinal quelea (Quelea cardinalis) is a species of bird in the family Ploceidae.
It is found in Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia.
From the Wikipedia article “Cardinal quelea” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cardinal_quelea&oldid=1379847424), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the cardinal quelea endangered?
The cardinal quelea is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.
How is the cardinal quelea classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderPasseriformes
- familyPloceidae
- genusQuelea
- SpeciesQuelea cardinalis (Hartlaub, 1880)
Synonyms Hyphantica cardinalis
Other names and names in other languages (29)
- CAQUEnglish
- Cardinal diochEnglish
- KardinaalkweleaAfrikaans
- snovač červenoprsýCzech
- KardinalvæverDanish
- KardinalweberGerman
- kardinala teksbirdoEsperanto
- Quelea cardenalSpanish
- kardinaalikutojaFinnish
- Travailleur cardinalFrench
- prugastoleđa pletiljaCroatian
- bíbortorkú szövőmadárHungarian
- Quelea cardinaleItalian
- ムネアカコウヨウチョウJapanese
- kardinolinis raudonsnapis audėjasLithuanian
- KardinaalweverDutch
- kardinalveverNorwegian
- wikłacz kardynalskiPolish
- quelea-cardinalPortuguese
- queleia-cardinalPortuguese
- Кардиналовая квелияRussian
- Кардинальский красноклювый ткачRussian
- pletiarka kardinálskaSlovak
- Kardinal kveleaSerbian
- kardinalvävareSwedish
- Kardinal KuelasıTurkish
- квелія кардиналоваUkrainian
- 緋紅奎利亞雀Chinese
- 绯红奎利亚雀Chinese
Relatives of the cardinal quelea
Other species in the same genus Quelea.
CompareCardinal quelea vs Red-billed queleaCardinal quelea vs Red-headed queleaCardinal quelea vs Hyphantica aethiopica
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the cardinal quelea?
An adult cardinal quelea weighs 12.5 g – 12.9 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Is the cardinal quelea endangered?
The cardinal quelea is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.
What kind of animal is the cardinal quelea?
The cardinal quelea (Quelea cardinalis) belongs to the family Ploceidae in the order Passeriformes.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Cardinal quelea (Quelea cardinalis). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/cardinal-quelea
“Cardinal quelea (Quelea cardinalis).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/cardinal-quelea.
@misc{cardinal_quelea_2026,
title = {Cardinal quelea (Quelea cardinalis)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/cardinal-quelea},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}