Red-headed Quelea Quelea erythrops

Identification. The Red-headed Quelea is a small weaver found in scattered localities through Africa. The male in breeding plumage has a bright red head, closely resembling the Cardinal Quelea but the Red-headed Quelea has the red of its head continuing onto the nape but not onto the breast, and has black barring on the throat. The female is very similar to the female Cardinal Quelea, with a yellowish face and supercilium, but has a white throat, short dark moustachial mark, slightly larger and paler bill, but is probably not safely distinguishable in the field. The non-breeding male may retain some red on the head. Read more about its identification in South Africa here.

Distribution. The Red-headed Quelea occurs widely through sub-Saharan Africa (see map above, based on Birds of Africa). Two races have been proposed previously, Q. e. erythrops in the north and Q. e. viniceps in the south, but the species is currently treated as monotypic. Morphological differences between these races are slight, but there may be differences in the timing of moult, migrations and breeding in the two regions which suggests separation with minimal interchange between these populations.

Habitat. The Red-headed Quelea inhabits rank grass near water, tall grassland, farmland and rice fields. It is highly gregarious, often in flocks of over 1000. Small groups join mixed-species flocks of weavers. Flocks are restless, some birds feeding on the ground, and others perching in bushes.

Food. The diet of the Red-headed Quelea consists of grass seeds, and insects. Rice is taken, and it may be a pest in some areas. Nestlings are fed on insects.

Breeding. The Red-headed Quelea is probably polygynous. It is colonial, with several hundred nests close together. The largest colonies consist of 3000-5000 nests. Breeding is highly synchronized. Males may leave the colony before the young fledge. Colonies are seldom at the same site in successive years.

The nest is a tightly-woven dome with a side entrance, built from very narrow strips of grass. The entrance is oblong, without a porch, but with a small platform on the lower lip. The nest is not lined, and is suspended between 2 grass stems, above water in reeds. Males and females have been recorded as building nests.Eggs (1-4) are uniform pale blue. Incubation is by the female and clutches usually hatch in tightly synchrony in a colony.

Movements. This species is migratory but few recaptures or recoveries have been reported. The greatest movement to date is at least 475 km and the details of this record may be seen here.

Breeding season
mainly Jun-Oct in W Africa, Nov-Feb on Sao Tome; Jul-Aug in Sudan and N Congo Basin, Jan-Mar in S DRCongo, Apr in Uganda and Apr-May in Tanzania; Jan-Apr in Angola, Zambia and Malawi; usually Dec-Jan in S Africa but egg-laying recorded early Mar in Zimbabwe

Nest site
suspended c. 1.5 m above ground or over water between grass or reed stems

Nest building
Nest built by male

Colony size
with hundreds or thousands of nests per colony

Clutch size
1-4 eggs, average 2 (South Africa)

Egg colour
pale blue

Egg size
average size for 38 eggs in South Africa 19.4 x 13.5 mm

Incubation
incubation by female only, period, c. 13 days at Zimbabwe colony, captivity 12-14 days

Chicks and nestling period
chicks fed generally by female only, at one colony males also seen to feed, nestling period 12-14 days