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| | + | [[Image:Orange_Weaver_-_DB.jpg|thumb|550px|right|Photo by the late '''[http://www.birdforum.net/gallery/showgallery.php/ppuser/39695/cat/500 Jan Van den Broeck]'''<br />Mabamba - Uganda ]] |
| | + | ;[[:Category:Ploceus|Ploceus]] aurantius |
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| − | ;Ploceus aurantius
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| | ==Identification== | | ==Identification== |
| − | The Orange Weaver cock has seasonal coloration, being a mottled brownish tan (tinged with green in very young birds) when out of season. The coloration follows a Southern Hemisphere pattern, appearing in late summer and lasting till early winter. The collar and back of the neck, tail and wings change to a brilliant orange. The breast and abdomen and top of he head and face change to shiny black. The bill also becomes dense black. The girth and spread of the feathers also increases so the bird appears much larger than he really is, when in color. Hens do not change color, and are somewhat slimmer than cocks. The onset of color does not appear until the second seasonal cycle after fledging, and for this reason young weaver cocks before the first seasonal molt are frequently sexed as hens.
| + | Mottled brownish tan when out of season. In season the collar and back of the neck, tail and wings change to a brilliant orange. The breast and abdomen and top of he head and face change to shiny black. The bill also becomes dense black. Hens do not change colour. |
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| | ==Distribution== | | ==Distribution== |
| − | The Orange Weaver (Euplectes orix orix) progenitor species are native of sub-Saharan Africa, from Senegal in the west, to central Sudan, Ethiopia and Somalia, and down as far as Uganda and Kenya.
| + | Sub-Saharan [[Africa]], [[Senegal]], [[Sudan]], [[Ethiopia]], [[Somalia]], [[Uganda]] and [[Kenya]]. |
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| | ==Taxonomy== | | ==Taxonomy== |
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| | ==Habitat== | | ==Habitat== |
| | ==Behaviour== | | ==Behaviour== |
| − | It is a member of a large family of skillful nestbuilders, which includes the common American house sparrow. | + | It makes a densely woven and intricately knotted deep cup-like nest with a reinforced circular opening on one side. |
| − | It is not a social bird. It commands a large territory and will give its life in defense of its nests rather than abandon its young or surrender its territory. The most remarkable attribute of the weaver cocks, from which they take their name, is their nest building prowess. In this sense, the "weavers" with which we are familiar - the American sparrows - have lost their heritage, and make poor thumb-like nests of sticks and twigs. The African weavers all make densely woven and intricately knotted deep cup-like nests with a reinforced circular opening on one side. The nests are just wide enough for a single adult bird to occupy, but deep enough to hold the hen and chicks. The nest often contains more than one chamber, or a chamber and a mat-like roost. The nest may be built and reorganized several times before the cock is finished, and he may come back later and add on to it.
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| − | The weavers are highly insectivorous both during the offseason and while nesting. It is more than a preference for insects - weavers maintained on seed will change color slowly, incompletely, exhibit feather abnormalities, or fail to change color seasonally at all. Young weavers who have inadequate protein will be underweight and sparsely feathered, and will mature into sickly birds. An insectivorous diet also increases the territorial and aggressive behavior of the weavers, and tends to bring on the mating cycle.
| + | The diet is highly insectivorous. |
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| | ==External Links== | | ==External Links== |
| | + | {{GSearch|Ploceus+aurantius}} |
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| − | [[Category:Birds]] [[Category:Missing Images]] | + | [[Category:Birds]] [[Category:Ploceus]] |
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- Ploceus aurantius
Identification
Mottled brownish tan when out of season. In season the collar and back of the neck, tail and wings change to a brilliant orange. The breast and abdomen and top of he head and face change to shiny black. The bill also becomes dense black. Hens do not change colour.
Distribution
Sub-Saharan Africa, Senegal, Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia, Uganda and Kenya.
Taxonomy
They are closely related also to the African whydahs, and some ornithologists place non-parasitic species of whydah in the weaver family.
Habitat
Behaviour
It makes a densely woven and intricately knotted deep cup-like nest with a reinforced circular opening on one side.
The diet is highly insectivorous.
External Links
