WEAVERS - BIRD OF THE MONTH - JUNE & JULY 2014*

[nan]

Cape Weaver

WC 6.3.2011



WC 7.3.2011

[Amoli]

I am passing these on as Cape Weavers, and if it's wrong ..

Rietvlei


Marievale




a sip of the bathwater - refreshing...


Suikerbosrand

[Lisbeth]

Eastern Golden Weaver, Ploceus subaureus is a species of bird in the Ploceidae family. It is found in Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Somalia, South Africa, Swaziland, and Tanzania.



Description
11-14 cm. Golden yellow weaver.
The male in breeding plumage has a black bill and red eye. Some have an orange wash to the face.
Female and non breeding male have greenish backs with streaking and are yellow below with a horn to dark bill, and eye is brown or reddish brown.
Juveniles resemble females.
Similar species: Smaller and brighter yellow than Holub's Golden Weaver, has a shorter smaller bill and red (not yellow) eyes. Male may be distinguished from the larger, pale-eyed Cape Weaver by its more vivid yellow plumage and more rounded head.

Distribution
Occurs from Kenya through Tanzania to Malawi and Mozambique, extending down the east coast to KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape.

Habitat
It generally prefers river flood plains, coastal plains, estuaries and lowland river valleys, but it is mainly restricted to reedbeds and adjacent riverine vegetation.

Diet
It mainly eats seeds, insects and nectar, foraging on the ground and in vegetation, occasionally hawking termite alates aerially.

Breeding
Probably polygynous colonial nester, with about 10-20, rarely 50 nests per colony, sometimes breeding alongside Southern brown-throated (Ploceus xanthopterus) and Thick-billed weavers (Amblyospiza albifrons). Each male builds multiple circular nests which lack an entrance tunnel, woven from grass stems or reed strips and lined by the female with softer grass. It is typically attached to one, sometimes two reed stems about 1-2 m above water, although it may occasionally use trees instead. Egg-laying season is from about September-February, peaking from September-December. It lays 2-4 eggs, which are incubated solely by the female. The chicks are fed on a diet of mainly insects, leaving the nest after about 19-22 days.

[Lisbeth]

Genus Ploceus

Holub's Golden Weaver (Ploceus xanthops), also called the African Golden Weaver, is a species of bird in the Ploceidae family. It is found in Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
The common name commemorates the Czech naturalist Emil Holub



Distribution and habitat
Occurs from Congo and Uganda through southern DRC, Zambia and Angola to southern Africa. Here it is common from central Mozambique to Zimbabwe, northern Botswana, the far north of Namibia (including the Caprivi Strip) and eastern South Africa. It generally prefers grassy thicket along forest edges, well-wooded savanna, riparian woodland and rank vegetation along watercourses.

[Lisbeth]

Southern brown-throated weaver (Ploceus xanthopterus) is a species of bird in the Ploceidae family. It is found in Botswana, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.


Description
Length 15 cm. The Southern Brown-throated Weaver is a small weaver, with a short tail.
The breeding male is the only weaver in its range with a brown face and throat which are demarcated from the yellow head. Bright yellow, washed green on back, with a chestnut face, and throat; chestnut does not extend onto the forecrown. The eyes are dull reddish brown.
Females, non-breeding males and young birds have a distinct cinnamon wash on the upperparts, below light yellow, shading to white in centre of belly and the bill is two-toned.
Similar species: Distinguished from Cape Weaver by being a more brilliant yellow colouration, by lacking the orange wash over the face and crown, and by having a brown, not pale eye.

Distribution
Occurs from southern Tanzania and north-eastern Mozambique through Zambia and Angola to southern Africa. Here it is uncommon and localised in three separate areas: northern Botswana and the Caprivi Strip (Namibia), north-eastern Zimbabwe and central Mozambique and from southern Mozambique to KwaZulu-Natal. .

Habitat
It generally prefers reedbeds and Papyrus (Cyperus papyrus) swamps while breeding, but in the non-breeding season it may also move into woodland, thickets, grassland and forest.

Diet
It mainly eats insects, seeds, berries and flowers, doing most of its foraging in vegetation, gleaning food from leaves and branches.

Breeding
Polygamous, as males mate with multiple females per breeding season, either nesting singly or in colonies of 10-300 nests. The male may build up to about 12 nests in a breeding season, which consist of an untidy oval with an entrance hole on the bottom, woven from thin strips of reeds or grass and lined by the female with grass seedheads and reed flowers. It is typically attached to 1-3 reed stems at least one metre above water, rarely using a tree instead. Egg-laying season is from about October-January. It lays 2-3 eggs, which are incubated solely by the female for about 14-17 days. The chicks are fed by the female only, leaving the nest after about 14-19 days.

[Amoli]

I have one of these... will post as soon as I get home tonight.

Found a copy in my Travel Tale...

[Lisbeth]

OK! Let's get to some easy ones

Genus Ploceus
Lesser Masked Weaver, Ploceus intermedius The Lesser Masked Weaver (Ploceus intermedius) is a species of bird in the Ploceidae family. It builds its nests in large colonies, often alongside the Village Weaver and sometimes the Red-billed Buffalo Weaver. This species is commonly parasitised by the Diederik Cuckoo.
It is found in Angola, Botswana, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.


Distribution range

Nest

Description
Length 13-14 cm.
Adult male: Yellow pale-eyed masked weaver; the black mask extends onto the front half of the crown, and has a notch above the eye. Male has a black thin bill.
Adult female has a pale pinkish-grey bill and has no mask and a dark eye.
All adults have the greyish legs, but very young juveniles can have pink legs. Juveniles in addition have dark eyes and whitish bellies.

Distribution
Occurs from Ethiopia through Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia and Angola to southern Africa. Here it is locally common across the northern half of the region, from northern Namibia to Mozambique and north-eastern South Africa.

Habitat
Habitats with or close to water, such as Acacia savanna, open woodland, riverine trees, reedbeds, swamps and mangroves.

Diet
It mainly eats insects (especially caterpillars) and nectar, doing most of its foraging in the tree canopy, gleaning prey from foliage and flowers.

Breeding
Polygynous, as males mate with multiple females in a breeding season, living in colonies of 20-30, rarely up to 200 nests. The nest is built solely by the male, consisting of a sturdy but thin-walled kidney-shaped structure, with a downward-pointed short entrance tunnel. It is usually made of narrow strips of grass, reeds or palm leaves and, if accepted by the female, she lines the interior with silky grey fibres. It is typically placed at the end of a branch, in the foliage of a tree or bush, in a patch of reeds, at the edge of a roof or suspended from a telephone wire. Egg-laying season is from August-March, peaking from October-January. It lays 2-4 eggs, which are incubated solely by the female for about 13 days. The chicks are mainly brooded and fed by the female, leaving the nest after about 15-16 days.
Parasitised by Dideric Cuckoo and (rarely) Klaas's Cuckoo.

[nan]

Lesser Masked Weaver

first, I learn
11.9.2009

then... to me

[Flutterby]

Female Lesser Masked Weaver - Pilanesberg

[Amoli]

I have 3 beautiful blurry's to add (My glasses don't work the way the should )

by the way... I love weavers







Lesser Masked Weaver, Pilanesberg