Pin-tailed Whydah Courtship Display

[Donkees]

3. Escapees from the pet trade have even shown up in NYC

This Beautiful Parasitic Bird Could Soon Turn Up in Your Yard

Excerpt:

The pin-tailed whydah is one out of only about 100 parasites of the 10,000 bird species in the world. In its native range in sub-Saharan and South Africa, it uses more than 20 other birds as foster mothers to care for its offspring.

“These birds don’t look like a virus or bacteria, but they have the same impact,” Dr. Hauber said.

Brood parasites compete with their hosts. And the host birds must work harder to support themselves, their own young and the offspring they are tricked into fostering. Over time, it takes a toll on the hosts.

After arriving in Puerto Rico in the 1960s and 1970s, for example, they learned to fool Orange-cheeked Waxbills. And in California, scaly-breasted munias have been found feeding young whydahs. Dr. Hauber is worried they could target native birds that never learned to identify whydah babies by their spots.

People buy pin-tailed whydahs as pets. But males and females paired together make poor feathered companions. When not breeding the male loses his elaborate tail feathers. And when his displays are not well received, he will pick on the female. Bored or frustrated pet owners or shopkeepers who can’t sell their expensive pets may release them into the wild, Dr. Hauber said. Or they may escape while being transported.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/29/science/pin-tailed-whydahs.html


A parasitic pin-tailed whydah chick, left, which closely mimics the spots or gape patterns of a host bird, the common waxbill, right.Credit...Justin Schuetz