Weaver species category
Choose different species category from drop-down list and press 'Go' button.Weavers breeding in Baobabs
red - Red-billed Buffalo Weaver
white - White-billed Buffalo Weaver
green outline - Baobab, map based on Wickens
Baobabs are well known, conspicuous trees in Africa. The baobab genus, Adansonia, contains nine species of tree, including six in Madagascar, two in mainland Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, and one in Australia. The common species in Africa is Adansonia digitata, and the second species was described as recently as 2012.
Three weavers regularly nest in baobabs, while a few others occasionally do so, and in the future many others may be recorded to occasionally do so.
The two Buffalo Weaver species are so named because when Andrew Smith first saw Red-billed Buffalo Weavers, they were associating with buffalo. They do not normally do so, however. Both Red-billed and White-billed Buffalo Weavers could more aptly be called Baobab Weavers, since they breed in baobab trees so often. The weavers are not dependant on baobabs as they can also breed in other large trees and also man-made structures. Nevertheless, there is a large overlap in distribution of these 2 weaver species and the baobab, and the weavers do seem to prefer these trees for nesting where they can.
Weavers that regularly breed in Baobab trees:
Red-billed Buffalo-Weaver Bubalornis niger
White-billed Buffalo-Weaver Bubalornis albirostris
Red-headed Weaver Anaplectes rubriceps
Sakalava Weaver Ploceus sakalava
Weavers that occasionally breed in Baobab trees:
White-headed Buffalo-Weaver Dinemellia dinemelli
Lesser Masked Weaver Ploceus intermedius
Heuglin's Masked Weaver Ploceus heuglini
Chestnut Weaver Ploceus rubiginosus - in Kenya
See more weaver nests in baobabs in the PHOWN (PHOtos of Weaver Nests) database.