About Euplectes ardens laticauda (Lichtenstein, 1823)
This entry covers Euplectes ardens laticauda, the red-collared widowbird, a species that exhibits both seasonal and sexual dimorphism like other widowbirds. Males reach around 25 cm (9.8 in) in length, while females are only 13 cm long. This size difference extends to body mass: males weigh 20 to 26 g (0.71 to 0.92 oz), and females weigh 16 to 22 g. During the non-breeding season, males have brown plumage. In the breeding season, which runs from October to April, breeding males develop black plumage, a long tail that measures approximately 22 cm, and a crescent-shaped carotenoid-based chest patch. The carotenoid badges show significant variation in brightness, hue, and chroma. Females and subadults have the same streaky dull brown plumage and short, roughly 4 cm tails that non-breeding males have, with one key difference: non-breeding males keep their black tails, while females and subadults have dark-brown tails. Red-collared widowbirds are distributed across Eastern and Southern Africa. They occupy a variety of habitats, most commonly open grasslands, agricultural areas, forest clearings, and slopes with limited tree coverage.
