View source for Quelea

{{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]] (''Quelea quelea'')
| taxon = Quelea
| authority = [[Ludwig Reichenbach|Reichenbach]], 1850
| type_species = ''[[Red-billed quelea|Loxia sanguinirostris]]''<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]]''<br />
''[[Quelea erythrops]]''<br />
''[[Quelea quelea]]''
}}

'''''Quelea''''' {{IPAc-en|'|k|w|iː|l|i|ə}} is a [[genus]] of small [[passerine]] [[bird]]s that belongs to the [[weaver-bird|weaver]] family '''Ploceidae''', confined to [[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]] is said to be the most numerous 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>

== Taxonomy ==
There are three species:
[[File:Red-billed Quelea.jpg|thumb|right|A flock of red-billed queleas]]
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Image !! Scientific name !! Common Name !! Distribution
|-
|[[File:Quelea cardinalis - Cardinal Quelea.jpg|120px]] || ''Quelea cardinalis''  || [[Cardinal quelea]] ||  Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia.
|-
|[[File:Quelea erythrops -South Africa -building nest-8.jpg|120px]] || ''Quelea erythrops''  || [[Red-headed quelea]] || 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.
|-
|[[File:Red-billed quelea (Quelea quelea aethiopica) male breeding plumage yellow.jpg|120px]] || ''Quelea quelea''  || [[Red-billed quelea]] || Subsaharan Africa, but absent from Madagascar, and avoiding rainforest, high altitude and South Africa's south coast
|-
|}

=== Phylogeny ===
Based on recent [[DNA phenotyping|DNA-analysis]], the red-billed quelea is [[sister group|sister]] to a [[clade]] that consist of both remaining species of the genus ''Quelea'', namely [[Cardinal quelea|''Q. cardinalis'']] and [[Red-headed quelea|''Q. erythrops'']]. The genus belongs to the group of true weavers (subfamily Ploceinae), and is most related to ''[[Foudia]]'', a genus of six or seven species that occur on the [[List of islands in the Indian Ocean#Western Indian Ocean|islands of the western Indian Ocean]]. This clade is sister to the Asian species of the genus ''[[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= [[Red-billed quelea|''Q. quelea'']]
            |2={{clade
               |1=[[Cardinal quelea|''Q. cardinalis'']]
               |2=[[Red-headed quelea|''Q. erythrops'']]
            }}
         }}
         |2=genus ''[[Foudia]]''
      }}
      |2= Asian species of the genus ''[[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}}</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}}