Identification
A small widowbird. The breeding male is jet black, with a crimson band across the breast, and a 20-centimeter floppy graduated tail. All-black birds and birds with a reduced crimson band, also occur. The female and non-breeding male have dark streaked upperparts, pale unstreaked or faintly streaked underparts, and a yellowish eyebrow and face, and lack the long tail. Pairs breed in open grassland, savanna, scrub, and cultivated areas. The species may flock, often with other seedeaters, and move locally when breeding is over. Breeding males are distinctive, but non-breeding males and females can be confused with many other species. Can be tentatively identified by lack of red or yellow in the wing, along with a buffy breast that is unstreaked or only lightly streaked.