Introduction

On Rüppell's third journey to Africa, in 1831-34, he travelled to the Sinai Peninsula, Egypt, and along the coast of the Red Sea to Massawa (Steinheimer 2005). Rüppell stayed in this area a few months at the end of 1831 and into early 1832, and then travelled inland with a trade caravan to reach the Abyssinian Highlands in 1833. He found the Chestnut Weaver at only one locality on his travels. The weavers were in small family parties at high altitude and he collected a male, female and young bird.

The first illustration of a Chestnut Weaver is a colour painting in Ruppell 1840. The next illustration is by Reichenbach (1863), also of an adult male.

Scientific citation

Meaning of names

First English name

Alternate names

Collector

Date collected

Locality collected

Type specimens

Identification. The Chestnut Weaver is named after its colour. The adult male (photo above left) in breeding plumage is a distinctive chestnut with a black head. There are 2 other chestnut coloured birds in Africa. The Cinnamon Weaver (see photo here) is similar but has yellow wing edges (rather than pale) and yellow vent (rather than brown as in the Chestnut Weaver). The Chestnut Sparrow Passer eminibey has chestnut wing edges and is smaller than the Chestnut Weaver. Female (photo above right) and non-breeding male Chestnut Weavers are much browner than other weavers, with buff or chestnut breast-band and flanks, and in southern Africa the grey bill is distinctive. Juveniles are similar but with streaked breasts (see photo here).

Distribution. Two subspecies of the Chestnut Weaver are currently recognised (see map left, based on Birds of Africa):
P. r. rubiginosus in eastern Africa, from Eritrea to Tanzania (see red on map left).
P. r. trothae Angola, Namibia, Botswana (see blue on map left). This subspecies has the chestnut plumage more orange in tone, and the rump is light brown rather than chestnut brown.

There are vagrant records from southern Namibia and South Africa - see here) for a map and links to pdfs describing these records.

Habitat. Chestnut Weavers inhabit dry thornveld.

Food. The Chestnut Weaver feeds on grass seeds and also on insects. In East Africa it feeds mainly on wild grass seeds but switches to cereal crops (especially sorghum) in Feb-Apr, and thus being a pest. Non-breeding birds flock and roost with other granivores and may form large mixed roosts.

Breeding. This species is monogamous and polygynous and highly colonial, with 500 or more nests covering trees in a small area (photo below left, from phown 3739). For example, following exceptional rains in Namibia, over 100 trees had 40-100 nests in each.

Colonies are established at different sites every year, although sometimes the same sites are used again in Namibia. Breeding is fairly well-synchronized within a colony. Males are present during the nest-building phase, displaying with beating wings from their nests. Males leave the colony during the breeding cycle, often while the females are incubating. The males form nomadic flocks and start moult, leaving colonies occupied only by females and young birds.

The nest is built by the male of grass stems (photo right, from phown 2476). The nest is retort-shaped with a short spout (sometimes absent). Nests are usually suspended from the tip of branches, sometimes 3-4 nests hang in a string below one another or are clustered together. Nests look untidy, having protruding grass stems. The nest ceiling and floor are lined with grass heads. Females do all the incubation and feeding of young, since the males leave the colony early.

Red-headed Finches and other species often nest in old nests, and Red-headed Finches also take over active nests.

Range changes in SA

There were also additional records, as listed in the Table below.