The Yellow-Mantled Whydah originates from Africa. It is approx.18-22cm in size. The cock bird is black from head to tail except for his mantle across his shoulders, which is golden – yellow in colour. Some colouring may also show on the wing tips.

The hen is brown in colour with a lighter brown stripe across the eyes.

The one thing I will say, regarding the female Whydah is that they are almost indistinguishable from the Orange Bishop female, the similarity is amazing; the female whydah appears to be a bit bigger but this does not guarantee that she is a Whydah.

I have found the Yellow Mantled Whydah to be a friendly bird and does not pose a threat to other birds in the aviary; although it is true to say the male will chase off intruders in his space but then most cock birds will do this. I have never known my cock bird to be violent to others. I would not advise that they are housed with birds smaller than themselves.

My aviary is 8’ x 8’ x 7’ high (not including the air-lock). It has a concrete floor, which I cover with Dry-Bird or Easy-Bed, and I have secured a lot of conifer branches inside, not only does this provide perches it also gives them cover should they wish to hide; I think it has also helped to keep the aviary a lot warmer during the winter months.

Although the Whydahs are a hardy bird, I still cover my aviary during the winter months with insulated panels, as this keeps out all draughts.

A bit of advice; if you use Dry-Bird or Easy-Bed I have found it to be far cheaper buying it from farm shops or equestrian centres saving at least £3 on pet shop prices!

Also housed in my aviary is a pair of Chestnut-Bellied Starlings and a pair of Chinese Painted Quail. Later in the year I will be adding a pair of Cape Sparrows. I don’t for-see any problems, as they are all of a similar size to one another.

My Whydahs can be quite tame and (as the fancy takes them) they will take mealworms from my fingers, and I have noticed that the male will always pass them to the female.

When displaying the cock will stretch his neck and whilst appearing to stand on tiptoe, he ruffs his neck feathers out and shouts out a high-pitched cheee cheee.

Food

Foreign Finch seed, insects e.g. mealworms, wax worms and crickets. Green foods such as spinach, dandelion, chickweed etc, fruit, if they will take it, soaked millet sprays and egg food.

Although I have not yet managed to breed these birds I have read that this bird will lay between two to four eggs which are pale green with blotches of olive-brown or olive grey spots and will sit for approx fourteen days.

During the breeding season it is strongly advisable to increase the feeding of live food; not only is this valuable food for the young it also encourages the adults into breeding. The male will feed the female while she is sitting on the eggs.

I hope to be able to update this article later on in the year, with my own breeding experience.

Roger Bryant

Other species of Whydah include (and I am sure I have missed a few):

Mountain marsh whydah (Euplectes psmmocromius cm)

Red-collared whydah (euplectes ardens)
A.k.a. Cut Throat Widow Bird, Flame Whydah, Red-Collared Widow,
Flaming Whydah, Black Whydah, Red-naped Whydah, Long Tailed Black Whydah.

Fan-Tailed Whydah (euplectes axillaris)
Long-Tailed Whydah (euplectes progne)
White-Winged Whydah (euplectes albonotatus)

Jackson’s Whydah (euplectes jacksoni)
A.k.a. Dancing Whydah and Jackson’s Widow Bird

Marsh Whydah (euplectes hartlaubi)
A.k.a. Marsh Widow Bird and Uganda Marsh Whydah

Pin-Tailed Whydah (vidua macroura)

Paradise Whydah (vidua paradisaea)

Fischer’s Whydah (vidua fischeri)

Combassou (vidua chalybeata)