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Photo: Charles J. Sharp · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source ↗
Red-billed Quelea
Rooibekkwelea · Quelea quelea
A small, sparrow-like weaver famous for forming enormous flocks, sometimes numbering millions, that swirl and roll like smoke over the bush. Both sexes have a red bill; breeding males add a black or white facial mask and a pinkish wash. They feed mainly on grass seeds and descend on waterholes in spectacular dense clouds to drink.
Log your Red-billed Quelea sighting — free →How to identify it
Small sparrow-like weaver with a red bill; breeding male shows a black (or white) face mask, but huge flocks are the giveaway.
Listen for its call
Endless soft chattering from flocks that can number in the thousands.
Where to see it in Kruger
Common in savanna and grassland, especially near water, gathering at waterholes in vast, dense, wheeling flocks.
Did you know
They gather in flocks of millions, so many that the swirling birds can look like rolling clouds of smoke.
Often confused with
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