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Flock of red-billed quelea flying

Red-billed quelea

Red-billed queleas are a kind of weaver bird and form flocks which can contain thousands of birds. Because seeds are a major part of their diet, these huge flocks can do considerable damage to fields of cereal crops.

Did you know?
with an adult breeding population numbering billions red-billed quelea are the world's most numerous wild bird.

Scientific name: Quelea quelea

Rank: Species

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Distribution

Map showing the distribution of the Red-billed quelea taxa

Species range provided by WWF's Wildfinder.

The Red-billed quelea can be found in a number of locations including: Africa. Find out more about these places and what else lives there.

Habitats

The following habitats are found across the Red-billed quelea distribution range. Find out more about these environments, what it takes to live there and what else inhabits them.

Behaviours

Discover what these behaviours are and how different plants and animals use them.

Additional data source: Animal Diversity Web

Conservation Status

Least Concern

  1. EX - Extinct
  2. EW
  3. CR - Threatened
  4. EN - Threatened
  5. VU - Threatened
  6. NT
  7. LC - Least concern

Year assessed: 2009

Classified by: IUCN 3.1

About

The Red-billed Quelea (Quelea quelea) is the world's most abundant wild bird species, with an estimated adult breeding population of 1.5 billion pairs. Some estimates of the overall population have been as large as 10 billion. The entire population is found in sub-Saharan Africa and is generally absent from deeply forested regions and the southern reaches of South Africa. It is a small passerine bird of the weaver family Ploceidae.

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Classification

  1. Life
  2. Animals
  3. Vertebrates
  4. Birds
  5. Perching birds
  6. Ploceidae
  7. Quelea
  8. Red-billed quelea

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