Weaver news

First PHOWN record for Red-collared Widow

2012-06-15 (226)


The nest of a Red-collared Widow was found while on one of Fleur's Nairobi birding walks. For some 40 years Fleur Ng'weno has been leading the Wednesday Morning Bird walks for the East Africa Natural History Society. On 30 May she led an outing to the Uhuru Gardens in Nairobi. The gardens have several habitats, including grassland, woodland, and a small wetland. A wide variety of bird species were seen, as well as several weaver species with nests, particularly White-browed Sparrow-Weaver colonies.

A female and male Red-collared Widow were seen in a patch of grass and weeds under some trees. A quick search of the area revealed a nest (less than 1 m above the ground) with 3 eggs. The males of this species build 3-22 nest rings or partial nests in their territory. The female will mostly build a new nest rather than completing a male's nest. Females tend to place their nests near the centre of a male's territory.

The above nest was found during a trip to Kenya; to see the PHOWN record for this story, see VM 2411.