Long-tailed Widowbird - Taxonomy

Taxonomy

The Long-tailed Widowbird was first described by Pieter Boddaert, a Dutch physician and naturalist, in 1783. The Long-tailed Widowbird is a member of the genus Euplectes, and therefore closely related to other species of Widowbirds and Bishops. The Long-tailed Widowbird is classified as a passerine bird in the weaver family, Ploceidae, named in 1758 by Carl Linnaeus in 1758. The Long-tailed Widowbird has several of the common morphological traits and dietary preferences of this family, including its rounded conical bill and feeding on seeds.

The Long-tailed Widowbird has three geographically differentiated subspecies. These include delamerei, found in the highlands of Kenya, delacouri, found in the Congo, Angola and Zambia, and progne, found in Botswana, South Africa, Swaziland and Lesotho. Some researchers have suggested the existence of Long-tailed Widowbird superspecies based on similarity in male nuptial plumage such as tail length, but this is the topic of some debate.