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First PHOWN record for Yellow-mantled Widowbird

2016-02-11 (698)
phown 18780
Yellow-mantled Widowbird, half-built nest
Richard de Cauwer has submitted the first PHOWN record for Yellow-mantled Widowbird. He found a half-built nest in wet grassland in Katanga, DRC. A male and female were nearby, the female with nest material. The breeding period for this species in DRC is unknown, but fits with the season in nearby Zambia of Dec-March. Usually the nest framework is woven by the male, and the female continues to add dry grass lining during incubation. In Richard's record, the female seems to be adding nest lining before egg laying. This species is polygynous, with up to five females per male, although some males will have 1 female or even none at times. Click on the photo to see full details. Richard has also sent many other interesting PHOWN records from DRC!

Bishops and widowbirds generally hide their nests in grass, so they are harder to find than the typical Ploceus nests, with the exception of the Southern Red Bishop as there nests are built in reeds and are easy to find. This is reflected in the current number of PHOWN records in the table below. Five species do not have records yet, and the others still need many more records!

VM Species Latin n
971 Hartlaub's Marsh Widowbird Euplectes hartlaubi 0
3746 Fire-fronted Bishop Euplectes diadematus 0
3748 Northern Red Bishop Euplectes franciscanus 0
3752 Jackson's Widowbird Euplectes jacksoni 0
3756 Montane Marsh Widowbird Euplectes psammocromius 0
809 Black-winged Bishop Euplectes hordeaceus 1
815 Yellow-mantled Widowbird Euplectes macroura 1
818 Long-tailed Widowbird Euplectes progne 1
1179 Golden-backed Bishop Euplectes aureus 1
812 Yellow-crowned Bishop Euplectes afer 2
813 Red-collared Widowbird Euplectes ardens 2
3750 Black Bishop Euplectes gierowii 2
814 White-winged Widowbird Euplectes albonotatus 3
810 Yellow Bishop Euplectes capensis 4
3754 Zanzibar Bishop Euplectes nigroventris 4
816 Fan-tailed Widowbird Euplectes axillaris 5
808 Southern Red Bishop Euplectes orix 239

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).


First PHOWN record for Yellow-mantled Widowbird (2016-02-11)
Weaver Wednesday [133] - Discovery [16]: Yellow-mantled Widowbird (2014-12-30)
Weaver Wednesday [98]: Yellow-mantled Widowbird (2014-04-30)