# Quelea

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{{Short description|Genus of African birds}}
{{Italic title}}
{{Automatic taxobox 
| name = ''Quelea''
| image = Red-billed quelea flocking at waterhole.jpg
| image_caption = [Red-billed quelea](/source/Red-billed_quelea) (''Quelea quelea'')
| taxon = Quelea
| authority = [Reichenbach](/source/Ludwig_Reichenbach), 1850
| type_species = ''[Loxia sanguinirostris](/source/Red-billed_quelea)''<ref name=HM4>{{cite web |url= https://www.aviansystematics.org/4th-edition-checklist?viewfamilies=190 |title= Ploceidae |author=<!--Not stated--> |date= |website= aviansystematics.org |publisher= The Trust for Avian Systematics |access-date= 2023-07-16}}</ref>
| type_species_authority = Linnaeus, 1766
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision = 
''[Quelea cardinalis](/source/Quelea_cardinalis)''<br />
''[Quelea erythrops](/source/Quelea_erythrops)''<br />
''[Quelea quelea](/source/Quelea_quelea)''
}}

'''''Quelea''''' ({{IPAc-en|'|k|w|iː|l|i|ə}}) is a [genus](/source/genus) of small [passerine](/source/passerine) [bird](/source/bird)s that belongs to the [weaver](/source/weaver-bird) family Ploceidae, confined to [Africa](/source/Africa). These are small-sized, sparrow- or finch-like gregarious birds, with bills adapted to eating seeds. Queleas may be nomadic over vast ranges; the [red-billed quelea](/source/red-billed_quelea) is said to be the most numerous wild bird species in the world<ref>{{cite book |last= Sekercioglu |first=Cagan Hakki |year=2006 |chapter=Foreword |title=Handbook of the Birds of the World, Volume 11: Old World Flycatchers to Old World Warblers |editor=Josep del Hoyo |editor2=Andrew Elliott |editor3=David Christie|location=Barcelona |publisher=Lynx Edicions |isbn=978-84-96553-06-4| page=48|title-link=Handbook of the Birds of the World }}</ref> and is a major pest to small-grain cereal crops in much of sub-Saharan Africa.

== Taxonomy ==
There are three species:
thumb|right|A flock of red-billed queleas

{{Species table |genus=Quelea   |authority-name=Reichenbach|authority-year=1850 |species-count=three|no-note=y|narrow-percent=75}}

{{Species table/row
|name=  [Cardinal quelea](/source/Cardinal_quelea) |binomial=[Quelea cardinalis](/source/Quelea_cardinalis)
|image=File:Quelea cardinalis - Cardinal Quelea.jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt=
|authority-name=Hartlaub |authority-year= 1880|authority-not-original=yes
|range=  Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia.
|range-image=
|range-image-size=180px
|size=
|habitat=
|hunting=
|iucn-status= LC
|population=
|direction=
|subspecies=
}}

{{Species table/row
|name= [Red-headed quelea](/source/Red-headed_quelea) |binomial=[Quelea erythrops](/source/Quelea_erythrops)
|image=File:Quelea erythrops -South Africa -building nest-8.jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt=
|authority-name=Hartlaub|authority-year=1848 |authority-not-original=yes
|range= Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, São Tomé and Príncipe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, South Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
|range-image=
|range-image-size=180px
|size=
|habitat=
|hunting=
|iucn-status= LC
|population=
|direction=
|subspecies=
}}

{{Species table/row
|name=[Red-billed quelea](/source/Red-billed_quelea) |binomial=[Quelea quelea](/source/Quelea_quelea)
|image=File:Red-billed quelea (Quelea quelea aethiopica) male breeding plumage yellow.jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt=|image-caption=Male
|image2 =File:Red-billed Quelea (Quelea quelea) - Flickr - Lip Kee.jpg|image2-caption=Female
|authority-name=Linnaeus|authority-year=1758 |authority-not-original=yes
|range=  Subsaharan Africa, but absent from Madagascar, and avoiding rainforest, high altitude and South Africa's south coast
|range-image=File:Red billed quelea map.svg
|range-image-size=180px
|size=
|habitat=
|hunting=
|iucn-status= LC
|population=
|direction=
|subspecies={{Collapsible list |expand=yes |title=Three subspecies |bullets=on
|''Quelea quelea quelea''
|''Quelea quelea lathamii''
|''Quelea queleaaethiopica''
}}
}}

{{Species table/end}}

=== Phylogeny ===
Based on recent [DNA-analysis](/source/DNA_phenotyping), the red-billed quelea is [sister](/source/sister_group) to a [clade](/source/clade) that consist of both remaining species of the genus ''Quelea'', namely [''Q. cardinalis''](/source/Cardinal_quelea) and [''Q. erythrops''](/source/Red-headed_quelea). The genus belongs to the group of true weavers (subfamily Ploceinae), and is most related to ''[Foudia](/source/Foudia)'', a genus of six or seven species that occur on the [islands of the western Indian Ocean](/source/List_of_islands_in_the_Indian_Ocean). This clade is sister to the Asian species of the genus ''[Ploceus](/source/Ploceus)''.

The following tree represents current insight of the relationships between the species of ''Quelea'', and their closest relatives.<ref>{{cite journal|first1= Thilina N.|last1= De Silva|first2= A. Townsend|last2= Peterson|first3= John M.|last3= Bates|first4= Sumudu W.|last4= Fernandoa|first5= Matthew G.|last5= Girard|year= 2017|title= Phylogenetic relationships of weaverbirds (Aves: Ploceidae): A first robust phylogeny based on mitochondrial and nuclear markers|journal= Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution|volume= 109|pages= 21–32|doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2016.12.013|pmid= 28012957|bibcode= 2017MolPE.109...21D|s2cid= 205841906}}</ref>
{{clade | style=font-size:100%;line-height:120%
|1={{clade
      |1={{clade
         |label1=genus ''Quelea''
         |1={{clade
            |1= [''Q. quelea''](/source/Red-billed_quelea)
            |2={{clade
               |1=[''Q. cardinalis''](/source/Cardinal_quelea)
               |2=[''Q. erythrops''](/source/Red-headed_quelea)
            }}
         }}
         |2=genus ''[Foudia](/source/Foudia)''
      }}
      |2= Asian species of the genus ''[Ploceus](/source/Ploceus)''
      }}
   }}

== Impact on agriculture ==
''Q. quelea'' is a major pest to small-grain cereal crops in much of sub-Saharan Africa; the kernels of corn are too big for it. ''Q. erythrops'' may cause substantial damage to rice. ''Q. cardinalis'' is not known to raid crops.<ref>{{cite journal|last= Oschadleus|first= H.D.|year= 2001|title= An updated bibliography of the African Quelea species|journal= South African Journal of Science|volume= 97|issue= 7/8|pages= 339–340|publisher= National Research Foundation Pretoria South Africa}} cited on {{cite web|website= Invasive Species Compendium|title= Abstract - An updated bibliography of the African Quelea species|url= http://www.cabi.org/isc/abstract/20013138156|access-date= 2017-05-04|archive-date= 2017-08-07|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170807192415/http://www.cabi.org/isc/abstract/20013138156|url-status= dead}}</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{Ploceidae}}
{{Passeroidea|P.|state=collapsed}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q1524259}}
{{Authority control}}

Category:Quelea
Category:Ploceidae
Category:Bird genera
Category:Taxa named by Ludwig Reichenbach

{{Ploceidae-stub}}

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Quelea](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quelea) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quelea?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.