Bocage's Weaver distribution, type locality circled
Introduction
Bocage's Weaver was formally described by Jose Vicente Barbosa du Bocage, a Portuguese zoologist and politician. He was curator of the Lisbon Museum, and described several other weavers.
Bocage's Weaver was collected by Jose Alberto de Oliveira Anchieta, a Portuguese explorer and naturalist, who collected a large number of birds in Angola.
In 1867 the Portuguese government hired Anchieta as a naturalist but probably also as a secret agent and informer in the Caconda region of Angola. Anchieta lived in Caconda, explored the area and sent many specimens and letters to his scientific correspondents in Lisbon. Anchieta discovered Bocage's Weaver near Caconda, at the south-western edge of the range of this weaver. Anchieta sent a crate of specimens to Lisbon of 126 birds collected between 1879-80, including a single male specimen of Bocage's Weaver.
The Latin name of Bocage's Weaver refers to the olive mask on the face ("temples"). The first English name was simply translated to Temporal Weaver Bird, but later authors gave an English name after the describer of the species.
The first illustration of the Bocage's Weaver was of the type published in Shelley (1905). The second illustration for the species was a photo of a nest, published by Hall (1960).
temporalis, Latin: temporalis, of the temples of the head (tempus, the temples).
First English name
Temporal Weaver Bird (Layard 1884).
Alternate names
Angola Golden Weaver, Benguela Weaver-bird, Bocage's Golden Weaver.
Collector
Jose de Anchieta.
Date collected
1879-1880.
Locality collected
Caconda, Angola.
Type specimens
The type specimen was in the Museum of Lisbon, before a fire destroyed the museum.
All news items relating to this species
The headers below refer to Weaver News items featuring 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).
