Chestnut Weaver - BirdForum Opus

Male
Photo by Solomon
Sesah, Eritrea, August 2006

Ploceus rubiginosus

Identification

14cm (5½ in)

• Black head
• Chestnut back and underparts
• White throat
• Brown iris and bill
• Grey legs
  

Females and non-breeding males are drab, sparrow-like birds.

Distribution

Africa
Western Africa: found only in Angola
Eastern Africa: Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania
Southern Africa: Namibia and Botswana

Taxonomy

Subspecies

Non-breeding
Photo by jdbirdman
Waterberg, Namibia, November 2004

There are 2 subspecies^[1]:

• P. r. trothae:

• Acacia savanna of south-western Angola, northern Namibia and Botswana

• P. r. rubiginosus:

• Extreme south-eastern Sudan to Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya and northern Tanzania

Habitat

Thornveld and dry broadleaved woodland.

Behaviour

Diet

The diet consists mostly of grass seeds, butterflies, wasps, locusts, bees, ants, flowers and nectar.

Breeding

Photo by safariranger
Etosha National Park, Namibia

Mongamous and a colonial breeder. Its large, coarsely woven nest is made of grass and leaf strips, has a downward facing entrance and is suspended from a branch. The clutch consists of 1-6 white eggs.

References

1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2016. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2016, with updates to August 2016. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
2. Avibase
3. Birds of Eden
4. Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved August 2017)

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Chestnut Weaver. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 28 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Chestnut_Weaver

External Links

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