Total nests counted: 42062 Todays weaver type: (see more here)
Rory's photos were taken before he knew about PHOWN but he has been back to the Luakera river recently. Rory said: "On this last trip I did on 16th April 2012, I again re visited the site very late in the evening, No birds seen or sign of old nests as water was very
high and access very difficult." Rory will keep a look out for Bocage's Weaver nests on future trips to the area. See the Bocage's Weaver record VM 2371.
Many new weaver species have been added to PHOWN in recent weeks, and there are now 51 species represented in the PHOWN database (out of 117 species)!
PHOWN is a citizen science project of the Animal Demography Unit, to collect and monitor breeding distributions and colony sizes of weaver birds.
Photo: Golden Palm-Weaver, PHOWN 1533, submitted by D Rollinson
Program in Nairobi
Tue, 29 May
Wed, 30 May
Workshop details:
Program in Watamu
This workshop is funded by Project for the Enhancement of Research Capacity (PERC, University of Cape Town)
The PHOWN record was submitted by Colin Beale, University of York. His record is of interest as many nests of this species (VM 2365) were ina mixed colony with Village Weavers (VM 2364) and Lesser Masked Weavers (VM 2366).
Read Colin's blog on savanna research here.
Weavers found in Sierra Leone are Thick-billed Weaver, Red-headed Quelea, Yellow-crowned Bishop, Northern Red Bishop, Red-collared Widowbird, Black-winged Bishop, Yellow-mantled Widowbird, Compact Weaver, Village Weaver, Orange Weaver, Vieillot's Black Weaver, Black-necked Weaver, Slender-billed Weaver, Yellow-mantled Weaver, Maxwell's Black Weaver, Preuss's Weaver, Gola Malimbe, Crested Malimbe, Blue-billed Malimbe, Red-headed Malimbe, and Red-vented Malimbe.
Photos: Acacia Pied Barbet, Rosy-faced Lovebirds waiting to return to the Sociable Weaver colony, Red-headed Finch investigating nest, pair of Pygmy Falcons.
A trip report will follow!
The weaver bird family
Monitoring weavers
PHOWN:
Accepted: 2371
(Uploaded: 2371)
SESAW (Survival rates) records:
9384; 24 Apr 2012
Latest weaver reference:
PAPER: Red-headed Weaver colony revisited.
, , Latest weaver news
First PHOWN record for Bocage's Weaver
2012-05-16 (218)
Bocage's Weaver was initially considered a subspecies of Cape Weaver, due to the similarity of these two species. The populations are widely separated, and Bocage's Weaver is found in central Angola, the southern DRC and north-western Zambia. It is colonial and lays blue eggs but otherwise is little known. The first PHOWN record for Bocage's Weaver has been submitted by bird ringer, bird guide and artist Rory McDougal, who attended the ringing course on Bovu island recently.
PHOWN workshop in Kenya
2012-05-15 (217)
A workshop on PHOWN (Photos of Weaver Nests) will be held in Kenya, the country with the highest diversity of weaver species (over 60 species). A workshop will be held in Nairobi at the Nairobi National Museum from 28-30 May 2012. A second workshop will be held in Watamu on the Kenyan coast on 1-2 June. Anybody is welcome to attend!
To be held at the meeting hall in the Museum
The PHOWN workshop will be held with the usual museum outings. Contact Dr Peter Njoroge at pnjoroge [at] museums.or.ke
Mon, 28 May
14h00 - Lecture 1: Weaver breeding biology
15h00 - Tea
15h30 - Practical: demonstration of uploading PHOWN records
7h00-11h00 - Bird ringing in the Museum gardens
14h00 - Lecture 2: Photos of Weaver Nests project
15h00 - Tea
15h30 - Practical: uploading PHOWN records (for any participants that already have photos of weaver nests, with date and locality of the record)
8h45-12h30 - Bird walk, Kipande Rd
12h30 - Practical: uploading PHOWN records from bird walk
14h00 - Lecture 3 and discussion: PHOWN in Nairobi
15h00 - Tea
You will benefit most by attending all sessions, but if you can only come to one, or some of them, that is fine - come when you can!
Bring a laptop, if you have one. If you don't have a laptop, you can still come! Some materials will be provided that you can copy to your laptop.
Bring any photos of weaver nests you have, as long as you know the date and locality of the photos.
Bring a camera (and binoculars) to the bird walk.
Tea and snacks will be provided after the lectures for attendees.
To be held with Colin Jackson at the Mwamba Field Study Centre. Contact Colin at colin.jackson [at] arocha.org for details.
First PHOWN record for Rufous-tailed Weaver
2012-05-13 (216)
The first PHOWN record for Rufous-tailed Weaver has been submitted. The Rufous-tailed Weaver is a monotypic savanna weaver found in northern Tanzania, with a few records from southern Kenya. This granivorous species is monogamous and colonial. Its nest is a ball of grass, not woven, with two entrances initially - one opening is closed in breeding nests. Up to 30 nests may be built in a tree with building activity year round. It is resident at its nesting colonies. Nests may be used for breeding by Superb Starlings Spreo superbus, and for roosting by Fischer's Lovebirds Agapornis fischeri.
First PHOWN record from Sierra Leone
2012-05-10 (215)
During a visit to Tonkolili Iron Ore Mine in Sierra Leone, John Pallett took a photo of a Village Weaver colony (see record details here (to see a large photo, go to the record, and click on Large Photos). This is also the most westerly PHOWN record to date. Several males were displaying in the colony. The photo was taken in February, and this fits in with the breeding season recorded in neighbouring Liberia where it is Sept-Apr.
Sociable Weaver associations
2012-05-08 (214)
During the Namibian ringers get-together 2012 at Wiese farm, ringing happened at several Sociable Weaver colonies. This allowed data to be collected on bird species associated with their nests. The 'Red' colony had some old Southern Masked Weaver nests in the same tree, indicating breeding by this species earlier in the year. At the 'White' colony we caught two Acacia Pied Barbets that had been roosting in a Sociable Weaver nest chamber. At the 'Blue' colony a small flock of Rosy-faced Lovebirds was using the nests and one was caught in the nets; later a pair of Red-headed Finches was investigating nest chambers while we were ringing. At the Sociable Weaver colony closest to the farm house, a pair of Pygmy Falcons was caught and ringed.
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