Vidua maryae Payne, 1982
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Jos Plateau forest-grassland mosaic ecoregion map
Altatoron · Public domain · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
The Jos Plateau indigobird (Vidua maryae) is a species of bird in the family Viduidae. It was thought to be endemic to Nigeria, but has been recently reported from northern Cameroon. It lays its eggs in the nest of the rock firefinch which is also restricted to Nigeria. Because of their inability to incubate their eggs, they lay their eggs in the nest of the rock firefinch and then take away the exact number of laid eggs from the host bird in order to avoid suspicion from the host bird . After hatching they exhibit dominance against the hatchlings of the rock firefinches. Their breeding seasons are all round the year but more pronounced during the cold Harmattan period between July and December.
Its natural habitats are dry woodland and shrubland in rocky areas. It is threatened by habitat loss.
Wikipedia contributors, Jos Plateau indigobird; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T14:11:13.167178+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Vidua maryae Payne, 1982
- Name authority
- Payne, 1982
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Viduidae
- Genus
- Vidua
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classAves
- orderPasseriformes
- familyViduidae
- genusVidua Cuvier, 1816
- speciesVidua maryae Payne, 1982
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Vidua. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Sahel Paradise WhydahVidua orientalis Heuglin, 1870 | ViduidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Purple IndigobirdVidua purpurascens (Reichenow, 1883) | ViduidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Exclamatory Paradise WhydahVidua interjecta (Grote, 1922) | ViduidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Pin-tailed WhydahVidua macroura (Pallas, 1764) | ViduidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Village IndigobirdVidua chalybeata (Statius Muller, 1776) | ViduidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Togo Paradise WhydahVidua togoensis (Grote, 1923) | ViduidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Zambezi IndigobirdVidua codringtoni (Neave, 1907) | ViduidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Vidua nigeriae (Alexander, 1908) | ViduidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Broad-tailed Paradise WhydahVidua obtusa (Chapin, 1922) | ViduidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Long-tailed Paradise WhydahVidua paradisaea (Linnaeus, 1758) | ViduidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Jambandu IndigobirdVidua raricola Payne, 1982 | ViduidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Shaft-tailed WhydahVidua regia (Linnaeus, 1766) | ViduidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=916180 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:5BDB2. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.