Cunningham-van Someren,G. R.

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JOURNAL
OF THE EAST AFRICA NATURAL HISTORY
SOCIETY AND NATIONAL MUSEUM
January 1973 No. 139
VIDUA FISCHERl (REICHENOW) PARASITIC ON GR!f.NATINA IAN-
THINOGASTER (REICHENOW)
By
G. R. Cunningham-vanSomeren
P.O. 24947,Karen, Nairobi.
A nest of Granatinaianthinogasterwas found on II April 1970in a low thorny
bush, in long grassby the roadside,at mile 30 from Nairobi, Kenya, on the road to
Ololkisaili: a generallydry areaof grassandacaciathorn.A malebird wasseenentering
the thornybush carryinga guineafowlfeatherand emerginglaterwithout it. The nest
containedfiveeggswhichwerenotexamined.On 18April 1970thenestcontainedsmall
chicksandon 25April 1970nestlings,whichwereexamined,oneof thesehad a brown
rump andtail andthe otherfour hadpurple rumps.Field notesweremadeof plumage
andgapepatterns.On returninglaterthe sameafternoonthe areaaroundthe nesthad
beentrampledby cattleandthebushalmostflattened.A searchrevealedarathermangled
nestbut fortunatelythefivenestlingsappearedunhurtandtheyweretakenin thehope
thattheycouldbehand-reared.It wassuspectedthattheoddnestlingwas Viduafischeri
and,as the bird wasraisedto threemonthsold, identificationwasconfirmed.
The nestlingsweretakento Nairobi in thenestandon closerexamination,thenest
and nestlingswerefound to be swarmingwith mites.There wasno nesthygieneand
theentranceandbasewerebadlyfouled.The nestwasoriginallylying horizontallyand
almoston the ground. It was roughly a lemon-shapedmasswith a longish entrance
spout, constructedmostlyof fine grassand lined with feathers.Evidently when first
foundthemalewasbringingfeathersto thenestaftertheeggshadbeenlaid(seeFriedman
1960).
Neunzig (1929,not seen)but quotedby Payne(1970)describedthe mouthmarkings
of V. fischeri"as generallysimilar to the mouth markingsof the presumptivehost,
Granatinaianthinogaster,with the exceptionof the greaterextentof a U-shapedblack
markon thelowermandibleandthepresenceof twosmallspotson theposteriorportion
of the palatein the host". Friedmann(1960)reproducesNeunzig's figure. However,
this descriptionand the figure is incorrectfor G. ianthinogasterand fits more closely
G. granatina(Linn.) andas Friedmannremarks"his descriptionrequiresverification".
It seemsfrommy livingspecimensthatNeunzigdid nothavedefiniteexamplesof either
speciesor specimensin goodenoughconditionto describeandfigurethesemarkings.
The following is a descriptionof the mouth markingsof living nestlingsand two
monthold fledglingsof V. fischeriandG. ianthinogasteron whichnoteshavebeenmade
atregularintervals.(Seedrawing).In G. ianthinogasterthebeakisblack,largerandheavier
than that of V. fischeri.Inside on the upper palatethereare threejet black spotsin
triangleformationon a greyishsalmon-pinkbackgroundwith moreintenseorange-pink
betweenthe spots forming a clear H-pattern. The pink colour fadeswith age.The
naso-pharyngealcavityin G. ianthinogasteris edgedby a seriesof inwardandbackward
Page 2
projectingspines.In V.fischerithepatternissimilarbutthethreespotsarepaler,greyer
andnotquitethesameshape.The lowerpalatein bothspeciesisanintensedeep,blue-
black:thetongueis longandnarrow,black,withwhiteedgesandthewhitedistalobes
arefinelyserratedattheedges:thegapetuberclesofbothspeciesareidentical,theupper
brilliantelectric-blueandthelowersmaller,and irridescentwhite.At threemonths
therewasverylittlechangein colouror patternexcepthatmarkingsweredullerand
thegapetuberclesmuchreduced.
•
The colourpatternof thenestlingsandfledglingstageshowaveryclosesimilarity.
WhenrescuedthreeG. ianthinogasterandtheV. fischeristillhadtuftsof downonthe
head.Therewasa sizediscrepancyamongstthenestlings.OneG. ianthinogasterwas
verymuchsmallerthantheotherthree;the V. fischeriwasthelargest.The headsof
allwereuniformlycoloureda warmchestnutbrown,contrastingwiththeback,wings
andbreastwhichwereduller.The maindifferencebetweenthespecieswasin thetail
andrumpcolour.V. fischeri,hasin addition,a palealmostwhitebellyandundertail
coverts,whereastheseareasareonlyslightlypalerthanthebreastin G. ianthinogaster.
AnotherobviousdifferencewasthatthefeetandlegsofG. ianthinogasterarebluish-grey
(lighterthanslate)slenderandwithlongertoesthanthoseof V.fischeri,thelegsofwhich
arebrownish-greyandstout.Theeyesofbothspeciesareverydarkbrown,almostblack.
At threemonthstherewaslittledifferenceineyecolour.At threemonths,whenconfirma-
tionof theidentificationof theV. fischeriwasfullyestablished,thebellyandundertail
covertswerein strongcontrastto thebreastandtherestof theplumage,beingalmost
white.Theedgesof thebeakof V. fischeriwereturningpinkish-redwhilein Granatina
thebeakwasstill black.
Page 3
Feedingtheyoungstersatfirstpresenteda problembutde-wingedtermitesdipped
in a proprietaryvitamin-mineralcompound*,werereadilytakenon thesecondday.
On thethirddaytheyoungsterswerecalling,a plaintive,repeated"sip-sip":thatof
V. fischeribeingdeeperandharsher.Theywouldreactto animitationby beggingfor
foodwhichwasalwaystakenwiththeheadlowered,twistedtooneside,lookingupwards
andclearlyexhibitingthemouthmarkings.V. fischeriwouldalsolowerandflutter
oneorbothwings.TheslowesttolearntotakefoodwasV. fischeri.Howeverattwenty
daysit commencedtopickupgrainbutwouldstilltakeprofferedfoodandattwenty-
fivedaysit becameindependent,takingonlygrain.
Obviousterritorialbehaviourwasnotedwiththeadultbirdsat Ololkisaili.A male
V. fischeritakesoveraterritoryanddrivesoffanyintrudingViduaspp.At onelocation
thiswasverynoticeable,asit includedawaterholewhichwasvisitedbymanyspecies.
Fromtimeto time,otherV. fischeriandV. macroura(Pallas)visitedthewaterhole,
thesewerealwaysattackedanddrivenoff.Eachmaleappearstohavetwoorthreefemales
inattendanceandthemalechivviesthese.Courtshipdisplaywasseenonseveraloccasions
andatverycloserange.The maleperchesbesideor oppositethefemale,bouncesup
anddown,atthesametimerapidlyflapsorclapsitswings,whicharenotfullyexpanded.
Justhowthesoundofclappingwasproducedwasnotestablished.Themalewouldalso
carryoutthisclappingwhilehoveringalmoststationaryin theairin frontof thefemale.
Flightis somewhatundulatingusuallyonlyovershortdistanceswhenthemalewould
alightontheextremetopofsomebushortree.
Singinghasbeenheardandis difficulto describebutmaybedefinedasa series
of ratherwateryflute-likenotesreminiscentof thesongof V. macroura.Payne,(1970)
(Pers.comm.)remarks"theoveralltoneis quitesimilarin thetwospeciesandwithout
a tape-recordto comparethesongsdirectlyit wouldbedifficulto appreciatethedif-
ference".
Payne(pers.comm.),sincethispaperwasoriginallydrafted,hasdrawnattentionto
apaperbyNicolai (1969)"Beobachtungena Paradieswitwen(SteganuraparadiseaL.
SteganuraobtusaChapin)undderStrohwitwe(TetranurafischeriReichenow)inOstafrika"
J. Orn.Lpz. 110(4)pp.421-447(1969).
Payne(op.cit.)notesthatNicolaidoesnotdescribeorfigurethelowerhalfofthemouth
of V. fischeri.Nicolaireportson his workin NorthernTanzaniaandhis findingsof
definatevidenceofspecificparasitismarenowconfirmedforthefirsttimefromKenya.
In viewof recentproposedchangesin nomenclaturewithwhichthewriteris notin
agreement,thegenusGranatinais preferredandmaintainedandnotEstrildaof White
(1963)or Uraeginthusof Hall andMoreau(1969)whileVidua is maintainedinstead
of Tetranura,asusedby Nicolai(1969).
·Proprietaryproduct="COMPLAN",GlaxoLaboratoriesLtd.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
To Dr R. B. Payne, for readingthe original typescriptand for makingvaluablecommentsand
providingreferences,manythanks.My thanksareexpressedto the Chief GameWarden,Kenya,
who issuedPermitNo 469,to enablework on parasiticspeciesof birds to beundertakenin Kenya.
REFERENCES
Friedmann, H. (1960) "The Parasitic Weaverbirds" U. S. National Museum Bull. 223
Hall, B.P. andMoreau,R. E. 1970"An Atlasof Speciationin African PasserineBirds". British
Museum, London.
Neunzig,R. (1929)."Zum BrutparasitismusdeVidenen"J. Orn.Lpz.77: 1-21.
Payne,R. B. (1970)"The Mouth Markings of juvenal Vidua regiaand Uraeginthusgranatinus".
Bull. Br. Orn. Club. 90: 16-08.
White, C. N. M. (1963)RevisedChecklistof African Flycatchers,WeaversandWaxbills Govern-
mentPrinter, Lusaka.
(Received8th March 1971.)
PublishedbyTheEastAfricaNaturalHistorySociety,Box44486,NairobiKenyaand
printedby KenyaLitho Ltd., Box 40775,Nairobi.


Vidua Fischeri (Reichenow) Parasitic on Granatina Ian-Thinogaster (Reichenow)

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Vidua Fischeri (Reichenow) Parasitic on Granatina Ian-Thinogaster (Reichenow)

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