Village Indigobird non-breeding

Village Indigobird non-breeding

One of the difficulties of visiting an Africa country in the dry season is that many of the small birds are in non-breeding plumage and this can make identification extremely difficult. I have to thank Pete Leonard, the author of the excellent Important Bird Areas in Zambia for identifying these birds as Indigobirds and most likely, Village Indigobirds based on the bill colour.

Country: Zambia
Location: Machile IBA
Family: Indigobirds, Whydahs (Viduidae)
Species: Village Indigobird (Vidua chalybeata)
Date taken: 22/07/2014