Quelea
Related Category: Vertebrate Zoology
(kw´l), common name for an East African weaverbird, Quelea quelea. Less than 5 in.
Queleas are gregarious birds that enjoy company. They aren´t pet birds, since they wouldn´t be happy living in a cage. They need other birds to relate to. They are quite easy to maintain, but not that easy to breed.
Red-billed queleas are a kind of weaver bird and form flocks which can contain thousands of birds. Because seeds are a major part of their diet, these huge flocks can do considerable damage to fields of cereal crops.
Scientific name: Quelea quelea ...
Quelea, Red-billed Quelea quelea Found: Africa
Photographed by: 1, 2) Gerrit de Vries in South Africa 3, 4) Johan Swanepoel in South Africa 4) worldswildlifewonders
4, 5) Dick Daniels at Birds of Eden, ...
Genus Quelea
Genus Sporopipes
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Weavers, Queleas, Bishops and Widowbirds are a group of small passerine birds related to the finches. These are seed-eating birds with rounded conical bills, most of which breed in sub-Saharan Africa, with fewer species in tropical Asia.
Red-billed Quelea, Quelea quelea
Red Fody or Madagascar Fody, Foudia madagascariensis
Red-headed Fody, Foudia eminentissima ...
Small birds follow in importance, especially the finches of the genus Ploceus and Euplectes, waxbills of the genus Estrilda and red-billed queleas Quelea quelea.
It is thought by some to be the most numerous bird on planet Earth at this time, although others credit this to the red-headed quelea, a species of weaverbird.
Living prey includes termites, fish, locusts, grasshoppers, army-worm caterpillars, frogs, rodents, crocodile eggs and hatchlings, quelea nestlings, doves, young and adult flamingos, cormorant nestlings, and pelican chicks.
Usually the male birds weave the nests and use them as a form of display to lure prospective females. The weaver bird colonies may be found close to water bodies. They sometimes cause crop damage, notably the Red-billed Quelea, ...
 See also: Finch, Weaver, Fly, Locust, Parrot
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