Sociable Weaver distribution, type locality circled
Introduction
The Sociable Weaver was formally described by John Latham, a Scottish explorer. Latham based the details on a travel book by William Paterson, a Scottish soldier and explorer. Paterson was sent to the Cape Colony to collect plants, and he made four trips into the interior between May 1777 and March 1780. In his published narrative, he wrote mostly about plants and rarely about animals. However, on his journey to the Orange River in 1779, he described a giraffe and the Sociable Weaver.
Paterson provided the first description and illustrations of the Sociable Weaver and its massive communal nest. He compared the nest to a thatched roof which he considered an "aerial city". He saw many large nests and estimated one to have 800-1000 birds living in it.
Paterson wrote about the Sociable Weaver in December 1779 after having returned from Namibia, so the exact locality is not clear. He noted that he saw the weavers and nests soon after seeing giraffe, and he would have seen the nests north of the Orange River between Goodhouse and Warmbad, during October 1779. The type locality was restricted to Warmbad for convenience.
Soon after Paterson's journey, Le vaillant travelled to the Orange River and also illustrated and wrote about the Sociable Weaver. He collected the first Rosy-faced Lovebirds, which he obtained at a Sociable Weaver colony. Le vaillant thus was the first person to report weaver nests being used by non-weavers. Thereafter, many travellers in southern Africa wrote about the Sociable Weaver and its unique nest.
Scientific citation
Loxia socia Latham 1790 Index Ornith., vol. i, p.381 Capitis Bonae Spei interioribus [=Inland of Cape of Good Hope], restricted to Warmbad, southern Great Namaqualand, Namibia, by MacDonald 1957.
Meaning of names
socius (Latin): sharing, allied [ie sociable].
Alternate names
Republican Grosbeak, Sociable Grosbeak, Social Weaver.
Collector
William Paterson.
Date collected
October 1779.
Locality collected
Capitis Bonae Spei interioribus [=Inland of Cape of Good Hope], restricted to Warmbad, Namibia.
Type specimens
Type specimen not known to exist; the illustration of Paterson 1789 serves as a type.
Weaver Watch
