Alternative name: Thick-billed Weaver
- Amblyospiza albifrons
Identification
18 cm (7 in); a large weaver with overall dark plumage and a heavy bill
Distribution
Most of Africa south of Sahara.
Taxonomy
This is the only member of its genus.
Subspecies
This species has ten subspecies[1]:
- A. a. capitalba: Senegal to south-western Nigeria
- A. a. saturata: south-eastern Nigeria, Cameroon, northern Gabon, northern Congo, south-western Central African Republic, north-western Democratic Republic of the Congo
- A. a. melanota: South Sudan, western and central Ethiopia, eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, western Kenya, and northwestern Tanzania
- A. a. unicolor: Southern Somalia, coastal eastern Kenya, eastern Tanzania and extreme southern Malawi
- A. a. montana: Interior southern Kenya and Tanzania to Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe
- A. a. tandae: Northern Angola and extreme western Democratic Republic of the Congo
- A. a. kasaica: southern Democratic Republic of the Congo (Kasai)
- A. a. maxima: South-eastern Angola, Caprivi Strip, northern Botswana, extreme north-western Zimbabwe
- A. a. albifrons: eastern South Africa
- A. a. woltersi: Mozambique (south of Zambezi) and adjacent eastern Zimbabwe to Zululand
Habitat
Reedbeds, coastal and evergreen forests.
Behaviour
Diet
Their varied diet consists of seeds, soft fruit and insects.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2017. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2017, with updates to August 2017. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved December 2015)
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Grosbeak Weaver. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 27 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Grosbeak_Weaver