Red-Billed Quelea
Quelea quelea
Habitat
Ground
Diet
PlantSeed
Active Time
Diurnal
Size
19 g
About This Species
Found in huge, wheeling flocks across savanna and grassland in sub-Saharan Africa, often near cereal crops and waterholes where they descend to feed on grass seeds in dense, noisy swarms. Look for the reddish bill and pink-flushed face of breeding males, and listen for the constant chattering and rushing wingbeats as flocks lift off together. Best seen at dawn or dusk near water in the dry season, when huge roosting or drinking congregations form.
Ethical Viewing Guidelines
- Because flocks can number in the millions and are sometimes treated as agricultural pests, keep well back from active feeding or roosting sites so as not to trigger a mass, energy-costly flush.
- Protection status and control measures vary widely across its African range, so check local regulations rather than assuming any single rule applies everywhere.
- Watching from a vehicle or hide at a waterhole gives closer views with far less disturbance than approaching on foot.
LCAvesPasseriformesPloceidae
Seasonal Activity
341,431 sightings · 2000–2026
Citizen science records via GBIF
All monthsThis month
Classification
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Ploceidae
Traits
- Diet
- PlantSeed
- Foraging
- Ground
- Activity
- Diurnal
- Body mass
- 19 g
Photo
Wikimedia Commons / Wikimedia Commons
CC-BY-SA-4.0
Occurrence data from GBIF.