CreatureData

Long-tailed widowbird

Euplectes progne (Boddaert, 1783)

LCLeast Concernsongbirds

The long-tailed widowbird (Euplectes progne) is a species in the family Ploceidae, order Passeriformes. Recorded adults weigh 32 g to 41.6 g. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.

Long-tailed widowbird (Euplectes progne)
Photo: Mohanr53 at English Wikipedia · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the long-tailed widowbird

Weight
32 g – 41.6 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
2.45 – 2.8src for Young per litter or clutch
Lifestyle
Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
Migration
Sedentarysrc for Migration
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
Not recorded

Where does the long-tailed widowbird live?

Not recorded

What is the long-tailed widowbird?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The long-tailed widowbird (Euplectes progne) is a species of bird in the weaver family Ploceidae. The species is found in Angola, Botswana, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Lesotho, South Africa, Eswatini, and Zambia. The long-tailed widowbird is a medium-sized bird and one of the most common in the territories it inhabits. Adult breeding males are almost entirely black with orange and white shoulders ("epaulets"), long, wide tails, and a bluish white bill. Females are rather inconspicuous, their feathers streaked tawny and black with pale patches on the chest, breast and back, narrow tail feathers, and horn-coloured bills.

When flying, male long-tailed widowbirds are readily visible due to their extremely long tails. Between six and eight of their twelve tail feathers are approximately half a metre (approximately 20 inches) long. The tail during flight display is expanded vertically into a deep, long keel below the male as he flies with slow wingbeats 0.5 to 2 metres (20 to 78 inches) above his territory.

Because of the seemingly large cost to such male ornaments, the long-tailed widowbird has been the subject of extensive research into the function and evolution of sexually selected traits. This research has demonstrated the existence of female choice in sexual selection and indicates the trade-offs between sexual appeal and physical constraints with regard to the evolution of sexual ornaments.

From the Wikipedia article “Long-tailed widowbird” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Long-tailed_widowbird&oldid=1330681344), 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.

What does the long-tailed widowbird sound like?

Charles Hesse. · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Is the long-tailed widowbird endangered?

The long-tailed widowbird is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.

How is the long-tailed widowbird classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAves
  4. orderPasseriformes
  5. familyPloceidae
  6. genusEuplectes
  7. SpeciesEuplectes progne (Boddaert, 1783)

Synonyms Chera progne, Emberiza progne

Other names and names in other languages (43)
  • Long-tailed whydahEnglish
  • Long-tailed whydahEnglish
  • Long-tailed widow-birdEnglish
  • Longtail widowbirdEnglish
  • LTWIEnglish
  • SakabulaEnglish
  • LangstertflapAfrikaans
  • Langstertflap (Sakabula)Afrikaans
  • bisbe cuallargCatalan
  • vida kohoutíCzech
  • gweddw gynffonhirWelsh
  • Hanehalet VidafinkeDanish
  • HahnschweifwidaGerman
  • HahnenschweifweberGerman
  • Hahnschweif-WidaGerman
  • HahnschweifweberGerman
  • longvosta teksbirdoEsperanto
  • Obispo colilargoSpanish
  • händ-kangurlindEstonian
  • laahuspiispaFinnish
  • Veuve géanteFrench
  • Euplecte à longue queueFrench
  • dugorepa pletiljaCroatian
  • hosszúfarkú özvegypintyHungarian
  • HalavefariIcelandic
  • Vedova codalungaItalian
  • コクホウオウJapanese
  • コクホウジャクJapanese
  • ilgauodegis aksominis audėjasLithuanian
  • HanenstaartwidavinkDutch
  • drageveverNorwegian
  • wikłacz olbrzymiPolish
  • bispo-rabilongoPortuguese
  • Viúva-rabilongaPortuguese
  • Длиннохвостый ткачикRussian
  • Длиннохвостый бархатный ткачRussian
  • tkáčik kohútíSlovak
  • Dugorepa vidaSerbian
  • långstjärtad vidafinkSwedish
  • Uzun Kuyruklu DulkuşuTurkish
  • вайдаг великохвостийUkrainian
  • 長尾寡婦鳥Chinese
  • 长尾巧织雀Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataIUCN Red List

Relatives of the long-tailed widowbird

Other species in the same genus Euplectes.

LC, Least Concern

Yellow bishop

Euplectes capensis

PloceidaeNo free photo yet

CompareLong-tailed widowbird vs Southern red bishopLong-tailed widowbird vs Northern red bishopLong-tailed widowbird vs Yellow-crowned bishopLong-tailed widowbird vs Jackson's widowbird

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the long-tailed widowbird?

An adult long-tailed widowbird weighs 32 g – 41.6 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Is the long-tailed widowbird endangered?

The long-tailed widowbird 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 long-tailed widowbird?

The long-tailed widowbird (Euplectes progne) 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.

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.

Preview the card

APA

CreatureData. (2026). Long-tailed widowbird (Euplectes progne). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/long-tailed-widowbird

MLA

“Long-tailed widowbird (Euplectes progne).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/long-tailed-widowbird.

BibTeX
@misc{long_tailed_widowbird_2026,
  title = {Long-tailed widowbird (Euplectes progne)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/long-tailed-widowbird},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}