Lesser Masked Weaver - BirdForum Opus

Male
Photo by mikemik
Tarangire, Tanzania, April 2018

Ploceus intermedius

Identification

Length 13-14 cm (5-5½ in)
Adult male: A pale-eyed masked weaver; the black mask extends onto the front half of the crown, and has a notch above the eye. Male has a black bill.
Adult female has a pale pinkish-grey bill.
All adults have the greyish legs, but very young juveniles can have pink legs. Juveniles in addition have dark eyes

Female
Photo by John Dempsey.
Mkuze, South Africa, August 2003

Distribution

Africa: North-eastern South Africa to Congo, DRC and Ethiopia, with an isolated popualtion in Central African Republic.

Taxonomy

Subspecies

There are three subspecies:¹

• P. i. intermedius

• Ethiopia, northwestern and southern Somalia, southeastern South Sudan, northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, and Tanzania

• P. i. beattyi

• Arid coastal western Angola

• P. i. cabanisii

• Coastal Tanzania to Natal (South Africa), northern Namibia and interior southern Angola

'Male on nest
Photo by IvoZafirov
Uganda, November 2005

Habitat

Open woodland close to water.

Behaviour

Forages in tree canopy for insects and nectar. Also eats flowers, fruit and small seeds.

Breeding

Colonial breeder. It makes a round nest from grass, with an entrance at the bottom. Two to four eggs are incubated for 13 days by the female. Parasitised by Dideric Cuckoo and (rarely) Klaas's Cuckoo.

References

1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2018. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2018. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
2. Hockey, PAR, WRJ Dean, and PG Ryan, eds. 2005. Roberts' Birds of Southern Africa. 7th ed. Cape Town: John Voelcker Bird Book Fund. ISBN 978-0620340533
3. Sinclair, I and P Ryan. 2003. Birds of Africa South of the Sahara. Princeton: Princeton Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0691118154
4. Birdforum thread discussing ID of this species versus Vitelline Weaver
5. Sinclair et al. 2002. Birds of Southern Africa. Princeton Field Guides, Princeton, New Jersey, USA. ISBN 0-691-09682-1

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Lesser Masked Weaver. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 25 April 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Lesser_Masked_Weaver

External Links

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