Pin - Tailed Whydah

I have been thinking for quite sometime to go out and photograph birds. Finally i managed to get my lazy ass out of the bed today and went to Punggol Barat. This place was different, it was dry grassland and a lot of constructions sites nearby and i have not seen so many birds at one place in Singapore except Bird park that's why this place is very popular among birders in Singapore. 

We reached there around 8:30 AM when the sun was not that harsh and the nice golden light covered the dry grassland and in between the grass we saw a lot of birders in patches taking photograph of Pin - Tailed Whydah among other birds. I didn't managed to shoot anything else part from Pin Tailed Whydah since it was my first time birding and i was brushing up my skills. I saw some 6 different species of Birds there including the Pin - tailed Whydah.

Pin - Tailed Whydah 
The Pin Tailed Whydah is a small songbird with a conspicuous pennant like tail in breeding males. The pin-tailed whydah is 12–13 cm in length, although the breeding male's tail adds another 20 cm to this. The adult male has a black back and crown, and a very long black tail. The wings are dark brown with white patches, and the underparts and the head, apart from the crown, are white. The bill is bright red. The female and non-breeding male have streaked brown upper parts, whitish underparts with buff flanks, and a buff and black face pattern.

Pin - Tailed Whydah

The pin-tailed whydah occurs in much of sub-Saharan Africa, favoring grassland, scrubs and Savannah, also coming into parks and gardens. It has also been introduced to southern California, Puerto Rico, and Singapore.

The species is a brood parasite which lays its eggs in the nests of estrildid finches, especially wax-bills. Unlike the common cuckoo, it does not destroy the host's eggs. Typically, 2-4 eggs are added to those already present. The eggs of both the host and the fire finch are white, although the whydah's are slightly larger. The nestling whydahs mimic the gape pattern of the fledglings of the host species.

The male pin-tailed whydah is territorial, and one male often has several females in his small group. He has an elaborate courtship flight display, which includes hovering over the female to display his tail and i was lucky to witness this display. The song is given from a high perch, and consists of rapid squeaking and churring. The diet of this species consists of seeds and grain.

(Source: Wikipedia)

Pin - Tailed Whydah - in flight

Pin - Tailed Whydah - in flight

Pin - Tailed Whydah - in flight

Pin - Tailed Whydah - in flight

Pin - Tailed Whydah