PHOWN (Photos of Weaver Nests)
PHOWN (PHotos Of Weaver Nests) is a monitoring project aimed at determining the distribution of colonies or nests of all weaver species globally. Counting weaver nests and taking photos allows tracking of changes in weaver breeding effort. Many weavers are common and this project provides an easy way of monitoring them, while some weaver species are threatened and this project would help their conservation. PHOWN flyer.Current statistics
The total stats possible:There are 117 living species of weavers (species list). There are about 60 countries in Africa, Asia and the Indian Ocean where weavers occur naturally. The current world population is about 6.9 billion. The number of records that can be submitted is unlimited (not really, but rather many!). Non-photo records include Nest Record Cards.
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Photo of the week 
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No. of nests | Records | Species | Countries | Participants | |
| Total possible | lots! | lots! | 117 | c 60 | 6.9 billion | |
| PHOWN records | 42062 | 2371 | 51 | 21 | 148 | |
| Non-photo records | 7109 | 235 | 8 | 5 | 10 |
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Newest species:
Bocage's Weaver
Newest country: Sierra Leone Newest participant: McDougal R 2012 records (includes non photo records):
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Coverage map for all species
Species summary and google map List VM records per observer General query More summaries PHOWN priorities |
Gallery - most recent records
 Vm 2371 |  Vm 2370 |
 Vm 2369 |  Vm 2368 |
 Vm 2367 |  Vm 2366 |
News items relating to this project
Latest news item:First PHOWN record for Bocage's Weaver2012-05-16 (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.
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)! |
All news items relating to this project
The headers below refer to Weaver News items featuring PHOWN. Click on a header to see the News item, which includes the full news item. (The number in brackets is the date that the news item appeared on Weaver Watch).
First PHOWN record for Bocage's Weaver (2012-05-16)
PHOWN workshop in Kenya (2012-05-15)
First PHOWN record for Rufous-tailed Weaver (2012-05-13)
First PHOWN record from Sierra Leone (2012-05-10)
Sociable Weaver associations (2012-05-08)
Off-setting your carbon footprint (2012-04-25)
PAPER: Red-headed Weaver colony revisited. (2012-04-24)
PiX magazine: "... offset your carbon footprint – let your pics count for conservation" (2012-04-19)
Sociable Weaver survey in Namibia (2012-04-18)
Sociable Weaver survey at Tswalu Kalahari (2012-04-13)
Bird ringing course, Zambia, 29 March - 6 April 2012 (2012-04-11)
First White-browed Sparrow-Weaver PHOWN records from Zambia (2012-04-07)
First PHOWN records of Loanga Weaver (2012-03-23)
Weavers from Plett to PE (2012-03-17)
PHOWN records for Kenya (2012-03-05)
Tracking PHOWN priorities (2012-02-28)
Ringing and PHOWNing in Hopefield (2012-02-26)
48th PHOWN species (2012-02-23)
PHOWN in Tanzania (2012-02-21)
Launch of WRAP (Weaver Research in Africa Project) (2012-02-17)
Weaver ringing trip, Zululand, 6-12 February 2012 (2012-02-13)
First Tanganyika Masked Weaver PHOWN record (2012-02-06)
Sociable Weaver demography project (2012-02-01)
Launch of WRAP (Weaver Research in Africa Project) (2012-01-30)
First PHOWN record from Swaziland (2012-01-27)
Story of a Spectacled Weaver nest (2012-01-23)
Lesser Masked Weaver range in KwaZulu-Natal (2012-01-18)
Weaver demography on the Cape Peninsula (2012-01-16)
Save the date: 11 Feb 2012, ADU 20th anniversary, Pietermaritzburg (2012-01-13)
Red-billed Quelea midday roosts (2011-12-26)
Cape Weaver chick retrapped 2 years later (2011-12-12)
PHOWN along national roads on your holiday trip (2011-12-07)
Weaver research trip, Tswalu, 14-17 November 2011 (2011-11-21)
Golden Palm-Weaver Ploceus bojeri (2011-11-18)
PHOWN priorities (2011-11-10)
ADU Digital Biodiversity Week - summer results (2011-11-07)
PHOWN in National Botanical Gardens (2011-10-31)
ADU Digital Biodiversity Week - summer (2011-10-27)
Taveta Golden Weaver (2011-10-17)
Arid Zone Ecology Forum, Nieuwoudtville (2011-10-10)
Ugandan PHOWN records (2011-09-15)
Black-headed (Yellow-backed) Weaver in Cape Town (2011-09-12)
PHOWN Photo of the week (2011-09-05)
PAPER: Largest Red-headed Weaver colony (2011-08-31)
The PHOWN network is expanding (2011-08-30)
Video PHOWN (2011-08-24)
The next PHOWN call: repeats! (2011-08-12)
PHOWN at 1000 (2011-08-05)
PHOWN firsts from Ghana (2011-08-02)
ADU Digital Biodiversity Week - PHOWN results (2011-08-01)
ADU Digital Biodiversity Week (2011-07-22)
Early nesting in weavers (2011-07-18)
Weaver breeding information (2011-07-04)
Weaver chick now 1 year 10 months 12 days old (2011-06-27)
Weaver birds may hold secret of ageing (2011-05-30)
The least known breeding factor in weavers (2011-05-09)
Most southerly Sociable Weaver colony (2011-05-03)
Ethiopia dials in to PHOWN (2011-04-12)
Sparrow-weavers at Barberspan (2011-03-03)
Exciting PHOWN records (2011-03-01)
Chestnut Weaver breeding records (2011-02-07)
PAPER: Sociable Weaver helpers (2011-02-01)
Second PHOWN newsletter (2011-01-31)
Weaver records on the Vaal Dam (2011-01-28)
Robben Island survey of weaver colonies (2010-10-29)
The 10/10/10 challenge: 357 weaver nests counted (2010-10-13)
Volunteer opportunity (2010-10-08)
The 10/10/10 challenge: action for climate change (2010-10-08)
PHOWN at the Stanford Bird Fair (2010-10-02)
A century of PHOWN records (2010-09-24)
Google Maps takes part in PHOWN ! (2010-08-25)
How large are weaver colonies? (2010-08-19)
PHOWN - the furthest north colony (2010-08-05)
Phone in to take part in PHOWN ! (2010-07-29)