PHOWN summaries and records

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PHOWN species summary

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See published breeding information below the map.

Fan-tailed Widowbird Euplectes axillaris

(species text)

PHOWN priorities: none yet

Most recent PHOWN record for this species (recent thumbnails and full species listing at end of this web page):

Vm 28563

No of records in PHOWN for this species: 12

Colony size

Colony size for this species in PHOWN (min - mean - max, sample size) and published data:
PHOWN Handbook of the Birds of the World, Vol. 15
1 - 1.0 - 1 (n=2)up to eight nests in a teritory of 0.6 ha
Compare colony sizes of different weaver species with this species here.

Nest site

Type of nest site for this species in PHOWN:
other - 1
reed - 5

Breeding seasonality

PHOWN Records per month for this species

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
223301000001

Handbook of the Birds of the World, Vol. 15
Sept-Oct in W Africa, Aug in Sudan, Sept-Oct in Ethiopia and Aug-Oct in Somalia; in all months except Jan, primarily Mar-Jul, in Uganda; in DRCongo, Aug-Oct in N and Jan-Mar in S; Nov-Dec and Feb-Jun in Rwanda, Apr-Jul in Kenya, Mar in Tanzania, Jan-Apr in Angola, Jan-Mar in Zambia and Dec-Mar in Malawi; one Mar record for Zimbabwe; Oct-Mar in South Africa

Figure above right: breeding seasonality shown as records per month (if available), where months are numbered from January where January=1 etc.
The records are grouped into 6 regions: Safr=southern Africa, Cafr=central Africa, Wafr=western Africa, Eafr=eastern Africa, Asia=southern Asia, IO=Indian Ocean islands
Read more about these figures here.

Breeding distribution

Google map of records for this species (you may need to zoom out to see all records)

Google map showing distribution and PHOWN records for the weaver species.
Yellow areas show distribution of the species; for species with small ranges you need to zoom in at the correct area to see the range. Read more about these maps here.
PHOWN pin colours show Nest site type:
- Reed
- Tree
- Man-made
- Other
- Nest Record Cards
CLICK on the marker on the map to see individual record details.

Published breeding information

Breeding information based on Handbook of the Birds of the World, Vol. 15.

bond
Polygynous
season
Sept-Oct in W Africa, Aug in Sudan, Sept-Oct in Ethiopia and Aug-Oct in Somalia; in all months except Jan, primarily Mar-Jul, in Uganda; in DRCongo, Aug-Oct in N and Jan-Mar in S; Nov-Dec and Feb-Jun in Rwanda, Apr-Jul in Kenya, Mar in Tanzania, Jan-Apr in Angola, Jan-Mar in Zambia and Dec-Mar in Malawi; one Mar record for Zimbabwe; Oct-Mar in South Africa
nsite
usually 60-80 cm above ground, sometimes only l0 cm from ground in shorter grass tufts
nbuild
male weaves frame, female then adds dense lining
colsize
up to eight nests in a teritory of 0.6 ha
clutch
2-3 eggs (mean 2.8 in South Africa)
eggcolour
pale blue-green, irregularly marked with large olive-brown spots, or grey-green with interlaced brown flecks, or olive-green with sparse brown markings, or grey-white with overlying brown streaks and blotches
eggsize
average size of 69 eggs 19.7 x 14.1 mm (South Africa)
incub
incubation by female only, period 12-14 days
chicks
chicks fed by female only, faecal sacs dropped 100 m from nest, nestling period 15-16 days; in captivity, young fed by female for 14 days after leaving nest

Thumb-nails of most recent PHOWN records


Click on one to see its full record

Vm 28563
Vm 15814
Vm 15811
Vm 15810
Vm 15809
Vm 14708

List of all PHOWN records for this species


Click on one to see its full record
14708, 2003-6-2,1,Mozambique, Inhaca Island, Nhaquene swamp, Oschadleus HD; Chris Lotz, reed
15809, 1976-3-0,0,South Africa, Malton, Adam Craig, reed
15810, 1976-3-0,0,South Africa, Malton, Adam Craig, reed
15811, 1976-3-0,0,South Africa, Malton, Adam Craig, reed
15814, 2015-1-18,1,South Africa, not sure, I will ask for further information, Famofan Jonathan, reed
28563, 2015-12-31,0,South Africa, Kei Mouth, Herselman Tino, other
100343, 1965-4-23,0,Angola, R. Numpaca (Mupanda), F Nobrega, other
100344, 1966-1-13,0,Angola, R. Numpaca (Mupanda), J. Domingos, reed
100345, 1966-2-18,0,Angola, Tundavala, J. Domingos, reed
100346, 1966-4-6,0,Angola, Mucanca, D. Mumputo, reed
100347, 1967-2-16,0,Angola, Chibia, Pereira, Ferreira, other
100348, 1967-4-20,0,Angola, Nongombe, D. Mumputo, tree

All PHOWN news items relating to this species

The headers below refer to Weaver News items featuring PHOWN and this species. 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).


Weaver Wednesday 3 [260] - Range changes [23]: Fan-tailed Widowbird (2017-06-07)
Weaver Wednesday [157] - Discovery [40]: Fan-tailed Widowbird (2015-06-17)
Weaver Wednesday [85]: Fan-tailed Widowbird (2014-01-29)