Weaver news

Weaver Wednesday [142] - Discovery [25]: Black-necked Weaver

2015-03-04 (625)


gravit8 Weaver Wednesday (species text)

Black-necked Weaver Ploceus nigricollis

Black-necked Weaver
Black-necked Weaver,
figure from Vieillot 1805
Black-necked Weaver
Black-necked Weaver,
figure from Swainson 1837
Black-necked Weaver map
Black-necked Weaver
distribution, type locality circled

Introduction

The Black-necked Weaver was formally described by Louis Jean Pierre Vieillot, a French ornithologist. This species had been collected by Jean Perrein, a French naturalist, who travelled in Africa and on other continents. Vieillot was interested in the habits of living birds, but Perrein did not provide any field notes for the Black-necked Weaver, as he had done for the Crested Malimbe. Vieillot also gave a French name to this species, ie. Le Tisserin a gorge noire (meaning Weaver with a black throat).

Vieillot described the plumage of the Black-necked Weaver and implied that it had been collected in Malimbe, now called Malembo, in Cabinda, Angola.

Perrein sent his specimens to Academy of Sciences in Bordeaux, France, from where the Black-necked Weaver type was moved to the Paris Museum (Swainson 1838).

The second illustration of this species to be published, was by Swainson 1837, but this was of the West African race.

Scientific citation

Malimbus nigricollis Vieillot 1805 Oiseaux chanteurs, p.74 1805 Malimba, Angola.

Meaning of names

nigricollis Latin: niger, black; Mod. Latin: -collis, necked.

Alternate names

Fernando Po Spectacled Weaver, Kenya Black-necked Weaver, Manenguba Weaver, Swainson's Spectacled Weaver, Swainson's Weaver.

Collector

Jean Perrein.

Date collected

Before 1805.

Locality collected

Malimbe =Malembo, Cabinda, Angola.

Type specimens

Type specimen probably still in the Natural History Museum in Paris.