Introduction

Vieillot based many of his descriptions on the work of Temminck 1807, but included a scientific name.

The Southern Masked Weaver was first illustrated in 1828 in Andrew Smith's description of the species. Smith illustrated only non-breeding birds, and the first male in breeding plumage to be painted was by Reichenbach (1863).

Scientific citation

Meaning of names

First English name

Alternate names

Collector

Date collected

Locality collected

Type specimens

Identification. The Southern Masked Weaver male in breeding plumage (photo above left) is bright yellow with a black mask and red eye. In non-breeding plumage it resembles the dull-coloured female, but retains a reddish eye. The female usually has a brown eye but about 29% of breeding females have a reddish eye (photo above right, see pdf paper on weaver eye colours).

Distribution. The Southern Masked Weaver has no subspecies listed in the Handbook of the Birds of the World, Vol. 15. Several subspecies have been proposed in the past, but this species is likely to show penotypic variation, ie. the size and plumage variation is due to environmental factors rather than geographic variation in genotypes. It is found in the southern third of Africa as far north as Angola, Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique.

It did not occur in the Western Cape historically (see map here). Originally its distribution ranged from the lower Orange River across to Port Elizabeth. It then expanded its range into the Western Cape and then Northern Cape as shown in the map. It is still sparse in the arid region south of the lower Orange River.

Habitat. It is found in a wide variety of habitats, including gardens, but is usually less common in coastal regions. This species is gregarious when not breeding, often roosting and feeding in large numbers.

Food. It is mainly a seed-eater, although also feeds on arthropods, nectar, and other items.

Breeding. The Southern Masked Weaver is polygnous. The male builds a neat nest which contains a ceiling inside the main structure as rain-protection. If a female accepts a nest, she lines the chamber with grass seed heads or feathers. Nests are built in trees, bushes, reeds, bamboos or man-made structures, like barbed wire fences. The latter is well illustrated by the very first PHOWN record (Photo below, phown 1). One of the most abnormal weaver nests was built by this species - see phown 694.

Colonies in drier areas tend to be larger with several males present, while this weaver tends to disperse into single-male colonies in urban areas with around 3-10 nests per male.

Eggs vary in colour, bluish or whitish, being plain or marked with fine or larger spots and blotches. This is one of the most common host species to the Diederik Cuckoo.

Chicks are fed by the female, and very rarely by the male. When fledged, the juveniles may remain in the same area or disperse several kilometers.

Range changes in SA

The points below match the points on the map above.

Areas with very large increases include:
1. Western Limpopo Province.
2. Most of Swaziland and southern Mpumalanga.
3. Much of the Western Cape - still increasing after arriving in the province less than a century ago.

Mixed results (increases and decreases):
4. Interior of the Northern Cape - mixed results due to poor coverage - more atlasing needed!

Areas with very large decreases:
5. Southern KwaZulu-Natal - this weaver occurs at a low density here.

Range changes elsewhere