Introduction

Clarke's Weaver was first collected by a native collector employed by Stephenson Robert Clarke and his younger brother Goland van Holt Clarke, an English soldier and naturalist. Stephenson Robert Clarke wrote several notes on birds, including the description of this weaver, which he named after his brother (the latter did not write any papers on birds). The Clarke brothers collected birds in various parts of Africa and the rest of the world.

The Clarke brothers went on a shooting expedition to the Lorian Swamps in central east Kenya in 1912, where they collected many birds. They returned to Mombasa and from there sent a local collector to work along the coast as far as Lamu. The collector obtained several rare species, as well as a male Clarke's Weaver. The weaver type locality was listed as Mombasa, where the brothers were based at the time, but would have been collected in the Arabuko-Sokoke Forest.

After the type specimen was collected in 1912, no more specimens were collected for 4 decades, so that Grant & Mackworth-Praed (1953) considered the type to be an aberrant, melanistic Lesser Masked Weaver. A second specimen was obtained in 1955 in the Sokoke Forest, however, by John Williams, after observing a flock and confirming it to be a valid species (Williams 1957b). In the late 1950s more specimens were obtained, including females.

The Clarke's Weaver was first illustrated by Mackworth 1955a, showing the type male. The next illustration to be published was a line drawing by Harrison 1965c.

Scientific citation

Meaning of names

First English name

Alternate names

Collector

Date collected

Locality collected

Type specimens

The female Dark-backed is like the male Dark-backed, while the female Clarke's Weaver is dull with streaked upperparts, yellow underparts, and yellow wing edgings.

Distribution. Clarke's Weaver is found only in the Arabuko-Sokoke Forest and Dakatcha area in south-east Kenya (see map left, based on Birds of Africa). Its total range is 535 km2, and in 1985 its population was estimated at 1000-2000 pairs. It is listed as "Endangered" (see Weavers by threat status), due to its restricted range, and it is vulnerable to forest clearance and wetland destruction.

Habitat. Clarke's Weaver inhabits coastal forest and is most frequent in miombo (Brachystegia) woodland; it needs wetlands for breeding and has also recently been found to roost in wetlands (Nature Kenya).

Food. The diet of Clarke's Weaver is mainly insects such as beetles, caterpillars and scale insects; but it also feeds on fruits of Loranthus and Brachystegia spicifomis.

Clarke's Weaver forages mostly in the canopy, in feeding flocks of up to 30, occasionally more than 100 individuals. It sometimes joins mixed-species flocks, especially helmet-shrikes (Prionops species). It may be found in single-sex flocks. At times it is conspicuous and gregarious, but flocks appear erratically. Other bird species apparently hawk insects that are flushed by the weavers, which are shy and restless.

Breeding. Nothing was known about breeding until an active colony was discovered in March 2013 (News). This date fits in with the suspected breeding season of February-March when the rains begin, since juveniles have been seen from March to August. It was a large colony, and Brian Finch estimated some five hundred nests concentrated in the small area of sedges (Nature Kenya). The monitoring team from Nature Kenya and the Dakatcha Woodland Conservation Group estimated that at least 700 birds were present. Adult weavers were bringing insects to the colony to feed nestlings (eg female in photo, top right).

Nests were built of sedges, and the shape of the nests varied between rounded or oval, to more pouch-shaped Jackson 2015a). A second breeding colony was found in 2015 (News). Details of breeding (mating system, clutch size, egg colours and sizes, incubation and nestling periods, etc) are still unknown.

Read more about the discovery of the colony here.