WeaveResearch Unit

Weavers of the World

There are 117 living species in the weaver bird family (Ploceidae), excluding the sparrows of genus Passer, with a list being provided here. The family is distributed through sub- Saharan Africa and southern Asia. It is a diverse group, illustrated by the following extremes. The pest Redbilled Quelea Quelea quelea has a population of an estimated 1500 million birds, and is considered by some to be the most numerous land-bird in the world (Elliott 1989). Contrast this with the rarest weaver, the threatened Mauritius Fody Foudia rubra, with 210–250 birds (Stattersfield & Capper 2000). The smallest weaver is the Zanzibar Red Bishop Euplectes nigroventris (wing of female 52–55.5–59 mm, Mackworth- Praed & Grant 1955) while the largest is the Longtailed Widow Euplectes progne (wing of male 124–141–158 mm, Mackworth-Praed & Grant 1973). Many species are brightly coloured while many other species have females and non-breeding males that are nondescript and difficult to identify.
There are 15 genera of weavers, which could be divided into 3 groups of nest types as shown here.

Some southern African adult male weavers:

Golden Weaver

Spectacled Weaver

Village Weaver

Red-billed Quelea

Red-headed Quelea

Southern Red Bishop

Latest weaver news

2010-03-09 Cape Weaver movements on the Cape Peninsula Most resident passerines on the Cape Peninsula seem to move very little, based on ringing several thousand birds over several years. The exceptions are nectarivores and Cape Weavers, all of which show extensive movements, probably in relation to food supplies. A map of Cape Weaver movements has lines linking the top left corner of the grids (and not actual points of capture) where the weavers were caught and recaptured. The movements include adult birds as well as birds ringed as chicks. For 375 recaptured Cape Weavers, the maximum distance moved on the Cape Peninsula is 46.6 km, and the average 1.2 km (excluding same site retraps, the average becomes 4.2 km for 106 records). Similar data for the Southern Masked Weaver illustrates the limited movement of many other species. For 233 recaptured Southern Masked Weavers, the maximum distance moved on the Cape Peninsula is 5.8 km, and the average 0.6 km (excluding same site retraps, the average becomes 2.3 km for 63 records).

2010-03-08 Rwanda Bird Atlas The most recent bird atlas project in Africa is the Rwanda Bird Atlas. Bird atlas projects provide detailed distributional snap-shots of weavers and other birds. Read more here - scroll down to the Atlas post. Other current African bird atlas projects include South Africa (all weaver species mapped) and Tanzania (some weaver species mapped). For a list of published atlas projects in Africa, read here.

2010-03-01 Baglafecht Weaver plumages The Baglafecht Weaver has 8 distinct races, some of which have been considered separate species. Some races have an eclipse plumage while others retain the same plumage all year. All or most races intergrade. Usually the eye is pale and it has a black face, but the headand back colours vary (young birds probably all have dark eyes and paler faces). The species is found from central to East Africa, and is a monogamous breeder. A variety of plumages is illustrated from Rwanda and Kenya here.

2010-02-23 28 weaver chicks recaptured After the first few months of mist-netting, 28 weaver chicks have been recaptured at roosting or foraging sites. Most of these were Southern Masked Weaver chicks. Cape Weaver chicks have dispersed the furthest, with 5 chicks dispersing 0.9 to 14.3 km. The maximum dispersal for Southern Masked Weaver and Southern Red Bishop chicks is about 1 km, with many chicks being recaptured close to where they had fledged. Read more here, where results will be updated regularly.

2010-02-08 Red-headed Weaver ringing trip The first week of Feb 2010 involved a short trip to Platjan farm on the Limpopo River to ring primarily Red-headed Weavers, as well as other weaver species. Most Red-headed Weavers have completed breeding by February but a large active colony was found on Mayholme farm, south of Platjan. Several hundred nests were counted in the syringa and baobab trees around the main farm house. Some 75 Red-headed Weavers were caught including two recaptures from 2007. In addition, 9 chicks were ringed in nests that were low enough to reach. This is the most number of Red-headed Weavers ringed in one day. Only 394 Red-headed Weavers had been ringed or retrapped in southern Africa over the last 60 years, so this provided a substantial increase. These are also the first Red-headed Weaver chicks ringed in southern Africa (one has been ringed in Zambia). Read more about the trip here.

2010-02-01 SESAW: Survival Estimates in Southern African Weavers This project is continuing to progres well and has been running for 5 months. The study aims to estimate survival rates of weavers in different parts of southern Africa, and relies on ringers ringing and recapturing weavers. The most ringed weaver species is now the Southern Masked Weaver (985) although it has a low recapture rate (5.6%). In second place is the Southern Red Bishop (820 ringed). The Spectacled Weaver has the highest recapture rate (36%). Read more here.

2010-01-22 Weavers and waterbirds, Jan 2010 Catching weavers results in also catching other birds, and in wetland areas that may mean waterbirds! See photos of the waterbirds here. From January there is frequent ringing in order to recapture chicks ringed last year. The first 3 weeks of January have yielded 152 birds, of which 64 were weavers. Of these 4 were juvenile weavers that had been ringed as chicks near the site of recapture. One juvenile was a Southern Red Bishop, and the other 3 were Southern Masked Weaver chicks. The latter were all from the same nest and were caught with an adult female - they were seen flying into the net at the same time, indicating that the juveniles (3 weeks old) were still dependent on their mother.

All news items Send news items Dieter Oschadleus - see below

Weaver Research Unit collects and collates data, and coordinates research, about the weaverbird family, Ploceidae.

Contact: H Dieter Oschadleus, weavers4africa [at] gmail.com
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