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Weaver eggs
Clutch of two eggs of the Yellow Weaver
Egg sizes of weavers
| smallest weaver egg | Scaly-feathered Finch | 15.7 x 11.3 mm |
| largest weaver egg | Red-billed Buffalo-Weaver | 28.3 x 19.9 mm |
Based on data summarised in Fry CH & Keith S (eds., 2004. Birds of Africa. Vol 7. Helm, London), the smallest average egg size of the African weavers is for the Scaly-feathered Finch Sporopipes squamifrons at 15.7 x 11.3 mm. The largest average egg size of the African weavers is for the Red-billed Buffalo-Weaver Bubalornis niger at 28.3 x 19.9 mm, nearly double as long as the egg of the Scaly-feathered Finch. Weavers have fairly standard shapes, as is shown by the fact that average length vs width falls on a straight line (Fig. 1). Genera of African weavers with small eggs are Sporopipes and Brachycope (average length 15-18 mm), while genera with large eggs are Histurgops and Bubalornis (average length 27-29 mm).
Fig. 1. Average length vs width for eggs of African weavers
Acknowledgements
Alex Stone enetered the egg size data into excel.
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Contact: H Dieter Oschadleus, weavers4africa [at] gmail.com
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