This striking African bird is showing up in California yards — and that's a problem.
The songbirds are used in the pet trade, in no small part because the males sport spectacular tail-feathers during the breeding season. In some places, the bird has become an introduced wild species when pet birds are let loose or escape from their cages.
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Find this kind of amusing given how whydahs are notoriously picky about their host species -- they almost exclusively parasitic to a few species, particularly estrildid finches. Pin-tailed did adapt to use Scaly-breasted Munias, though, which are not their natural host species. I find it rather unlikely that they'll persist anywhere without munias... they're just too particular. I guess in decades or hundreds of adaption they could use other species...
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