Yellow-mantled Widowbird
Photo © Lukas Zangl
Photo © Lukas Zangl — CC BY 4.0 — Source: iNaturalist #304444550The yellow-mantled widowbird (Euplectes macroura), also known as the yellow-backed widow, is a species of bird in the family Ploceidae. == Taxonomy == The yellow-mantled widowbird was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae. He placed it with the crossbills in the genus Loxia and coined the binomial name Loxia macroura. Gmelin specified the locality as "Whydah"; this is Ouidah on the coast of Benin in West Africa. The specific epithet is from Ancient Greek makros meaning "long" and -ouros meaning "tailed". The yellow-mantled widowbird is now one of 18 species placed in the genus Euplectes that was introduced in 1829 by the English naturalist William Swainson. E. m. macrocercus (Lichtenstein, MHC, 1823) – Ethiopia, Uganda and west Kenya E. m. macroura (Gmelin, JF, 1789) – Senegal and Gambia to south Sudan and southwest Kenya and south to Zambia, Malawi, Zimbabwe and west Mozambique E. m. conradsi (Berger, 1908) – Ukerewe Island in Lake Victoria == Description == Males are larger than females and acquire longer tails and striking black and golden yellow plumages in the breeding season. The mantle colour is either golden yellow…
Serengeti National Park
Tanzania
+558 birds+57 mammals
Across Tanzania's northern plateau, where volcanic soils meet acacia woodland and open grassland, unfolds one of Earth's most dynamic ecosystems. The Serengeti National Park sprawls across…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKBwindi Impenetrable National Park
Kanyashogi, Uganda
+603 birds+26 mammals
Steep ridges cloaked in montane forest rise from Uganda's southwestern borderlands, where the landscape grows so dense and tangled that early explorers named it impenetrable. At…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKKidepo Valley National Park
Uganda
+478 birds+24 mammals
Where the Narus and Kidepo rivers carve through northeastern Uganda's semi-arid lowlands, a landscape of sparse acacia woodland, grassland, and riverine thickets creates one of East…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKMurchison Falls National Park
Uganda
+608 birds+33 mammals
Where the Victoria Nile compresses through a narrow gorge and explodes across a 45-meter precipice, the landscape speaks in thunder. Murchison Falls National Park sprawls across…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKLake Mburo National Park
Uganda
+505 birds+24 mammals
Rolling acacia woodland and scattered lakes define this intimate savanna preserve in southwestern Uganda, where the rift valley's geological drama shapes every water source and grassland.…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKQueen Elizabeth National Park
Uganda
+672 birds+30 mammals
Across the southwestern escarpment of Uganda, where the Western Rift Valley descends through ancient volcanic terrain, Queen Elizabeth National Park sprawls across more than 8,300 square…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKMabamba Swamp
Memere, Uganda
+464 birds+2 mammals
Across the Central Region of Uganda spreads one of Africa's most biodiverse freshwater wetlands, a sprawling nature reserve of roughly 283 square kilometres where papyrus swamps…
VIEW NATURE RESERVEZiwa Rhino and Wildlife Ranch
Nakasongola, Uganda
+359 birds+11 mammals
Where papyrus wetlands merge into sprawling savanna, Uganda's central landscape opens into one of East Africa's most vital rhino recovery zones. Ziwa Rhino and Wildlife Ranch…
VIEW WILDLIFE SANCTUARYBale Mountains National Park
Ethiopia
+397 birds+20 mammals
Where the Ethiopian highlands rise above 4,000 metres, the Bale Mountains create a landscape of stunning ecological extremes—from afroalpine grasslands swept by wind and mist to…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKSaiwa Swamp National Park
Sinyerere ward, Kenya
+255 birds+4 mammals
Where papyrus and sedge marshes stretch across a highland plateau in western Kenya, Saiwa Swamp National Park shelters one of East Africa's most productive freshwater wetland…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKNo community photos yet. Log in to add the first one.
No community observations of this species yet.