Other recorded food plant include various grasses, such as Oryza, Paspalum, Saccharum, Triticum and Zea species.
The Long-tailed Widowbird feeds on a distinct variety of seeds, including those of Setaria sphacelata (Twisted-leaf bristle grass), Paspalum dilatatum (Common paspalum), Paspalum distichum (Couch paspalum), Pennisetum clandestinum (Kikuyu grass), Triticum (wheat), Themeda triandra (Rooigras), and Senecio juniperinus (groundsel).
In the 1950s growing awareness of the genetic similarity of the wild goatgrasses (Aegilops) led some botanists to amalgamate Aegilops and Triticum as one genus, Triticum.