Weaver (?) from the Aberdares in Kenya, 11/21 (1 Viewer)

[michael-ibk]

I´m stumped by this one, and do remember I was confused when I saw it. Baglafecht Weaver is my best guess, but it seemed to be very small (I know that can be deceiving), and moved more like a Waxbill than a Weaver. And those bluish eyes ...

Thanks in advance!

 

[THE_FERN]

Surely it's got to be baglafecht with that pick axe bill. But agree some things look a bit off (bill colour being pale, eye being bluish) so perhaps a young one

 

[michael-ibk]

Thanks, @THE_FERN . I guess it must be a Baglafecht. Still those blue eyes are odd - clicked through a lot of Baglafecht images on ebird, and haven´t found any with this colour.

 

[Valéry Schollaert]

Baglafecht is correct

 

[KC Foggin]

Oh! How I love the blue eyes on this Weaver!

 

[THE_FERN]

Just to note: I found an old 2016 pic from Uganda with 2 of the "odd" features here: the pale bill and the bluish eyes. So these must be a regular plumage feature

 

[michael-ibk]

Good to know, thanks for looking into that @THE_FERN.

 

[njlarsen]

Related: could I have you guys look at the opus page for this species:

Baglafecht Weaver - BirdForum Opus

www.birdforum.net

The third image down, labeled "female nominate subspecies" is that in non-breeding plumage or is that just how different females of that subspecies looks? I do not have a book with that subspecies shown.
Niels

 

[Butty]

My guess (note guess) would be that that bird (assuming it is correctly identified to species) is an unsexable immature, i.e. not an adult female.

 

[THE_FERN]

Related: could I have you guys look at the opus page for this species:

Baglafecht Weaver - BirdForum Opus

www.birdforum.net

The third image down, labeled "female nominate subspecies" is that in non-breeding plumage or is that just how different females of that subspecies looks? I do not have a book with that subspecies shown.
Niels

Looks reasonably like what bow says female non-breeding looks like. Pale bill and eye colour might indicate immaturity (as above)

 

[njlarsen]

Thanks!
Niels