CreatureData

Quailfinch indigobird

Vidua nigeriae (Alexander, 1908)

LCLeast Concernsongbirds

The quailfinch indigobird (Vidua nigeriae) is a species in the family Viduidae, order Passeriformes. Recorded adults weigh 12 g to 13.5 g. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.

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Quick facts about the quailfinch indigobird

Weight
12 g – 13.5 gsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
Not recorded
Diet
Granivoresrc for Diet
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
shrublandsrc for Habitat
Young per litter or clutch
3src 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 quailfinch indigobird live?

Not recorded

What is the quailfinch indigobird?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The quailfinch indigobird (Vidua nigeriae) is a small songbird. It is a resident breeding bird in The Gambia, Nigeria and Cameroon. It occurs in isolated localities, especially on river flood plains.

It was formerly considered to be a subspecies of the variable indigobird, Vidua funerea.

It is a brood parasite which lays its eggs in the nest of the African quailfinch, Ortygospiza atricollis, a slightly unusual host since it is only a distant relative to the firefinches parasitised by most indigobirds. It does not destroy the host's egg, but its own eggs are added to those already present.

The adult male quailfinch indigobird has greenish-black plumage, and the female resembles a female house sparrow, with streaked brown upperparts, buff underparts and a whitish supercilium.

Many of the indigobirds are very similar in appearance, with the males difficult to separate in the field, and the young and females near impossible. A helpful pointer is the association with the host species, the quailfinch.

The diet of this species consists of seeds and grain.

From the Wikipedia article “Quailfinch indigobird” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Quailfinch_indigobird&oldid=1378887441), 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 quailfinch indigobird endangered?

The quailfinch indigobird 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. What the categories mean.

How is the quailfinch indigobird classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAves
  4. orderPasseriformes
  5. familyViduidae
  6. genusVidua
  7. SpeciesVidua nigeriae (Alexander, 1908)

Synonyms Hypochera chalybeata sharii, Hypochera nigeriae, Vidua funerea nigeriae

Other names and names in other languages (28)
  • QUINEnglish
  • vídua de NigèriaCatalan
  • atlásek křepelčíCzech
  • VagtelatlaskfinkeDanish
  • GrünschwanzwitweGerman
  • GrünschwanzmohrenwitweGerman
  • niĝeria viduoEsperanto
  • Viuda nigerianaSpanish
  • töpöpeippoleskiFinnish
  • Combassou du NigeriaFrench
  • Combassou du NigériaFrench
  • mrka udovičicaCroatian
  • Vedova quagliaItalian
  • シャコスズメシコンチョウJapanese
  • NigeriaenkeNorwegian Bokmål
  • KwartelstaalvinkDutch
  • Nigeriaanse VinkDutch
  • vaktelastrildenkeNorwegian
  • wdówka nigeryjskaPolish
  • viúva-codornaPortuguese
  • viúva-nigerianaPortuguese
  • Нигерийская вдовушкаRussian
  • vdovka mokrinováSlovak
  • vaktelastrildsänkaSwedish
  • Bıldırcın Mumgagası ÇivitkuşuTurkish
  • вдовичка нігерійськаUkrainian
  • 鶉形維達雀Chinese
  • 鹑雀维达雀Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataIUCN Red List

Relatives of the quailfinch indigobird

Other species in the same genus Vidua.

CompareQuailfinch indigobird vs Pin-tailed whydahQuailfinch indigobird vs Long-tailed paradise whydahQuailfinch indigobird vs Village indigobirdQuailfinch indigobird vs Shaft-tailed whydah

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the quailfinch indigobird?

An adult quailfinch indigobird weighs 12 g – 13.5 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Is the quailfinch indigobird endangered?

The quailfinch indigobird 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 quailfinch indigobird?

The quailfinch indigobird (Vidua nigeriae) belongs to the family Viduidae in the order Passeriformes.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Quailfinch indigobird (Vidua nigeriae). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/quailfinch-indigobird

MLA

“Quailfinch indigobird (Vidua nigeriae).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/quailfinch-indigobird.

BibTeX
@misc{quailfinch_indigobird_2026,
  title = {Quailfinch indigobird (Vidua nigeriae)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/quailfinch-indigobird},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}