Bar-winged weaver | |
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Illustration (bird in background) with a red-headed weaver (foreground) | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Passeriformes |
Family: | Ploceidae |
Genus: | Ploceus |
Species: | P. angolensis |
Binomial name | |
Ploceus angolensis (Barboza du Bocage, 1878) | |
The bar-winged weaver (Ploceus angolensis) is a species of bird in the family Ploceidae. It is found in Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Zambia.
The weaver is 13cm in length, with dark coloring on the top of the bird's body and light on the bottom. It has dark blackish-brown feathers covering the top of the head and continuing down onto the wings. The wings also contain white tips at the end of each feather, with the female containing much more white. In the middle of the wings, a yellow strip runs down the back of the weaver. The tail resembles the same blackish-brown coloring that is on the head and wings. The chin and belly have a white and yellow wash of color and the females are seen with a whiter coloring. The bill is black, the legs are brown, and the eye iris of the weaver is red. [2]
Bar-winged weavers are insectivorous. [3] Specifically, they eat mantids (Mantidae), beetles (Coleoptera), and chironomid larvae (Diptera). They forage for their food on trees covered with lichens and Usnea [4] and move like nuthatches to find their food. [2]
Weavers live in mature evergreen ( Cryptosepalum ) forests and Miombo ( Brachystegia ) woodland which is moist enough to grow Usnealichen on the trees. [4]
The song is composed of several fast, tuneful notes in a crescendo, leading up to loud swizzle; sometimes followed by more tuneful notes in a decrescendo. Not very vocal, but occasionally calls a series of high-pitched squeaks, buzzes, and churrs. Normally sounds, "tyoo-vo-vo-vo", also higher-pitched "tree-zi-zee-zi-zee-zi". [2]
The bar-winged weaver is a solitary, monogamous breeder. The nest is a roughly spherical ball with an entrance tube of length 30–210 mm hanging down from one side. One nest had an apparent false entrance to an empty chamber. The clutch of 2–3 eggs are turquoise-blue, flecked and clouded with darker markings, mostly at the thicker end. [2]
The bar-winged weaver is a very poorly known species. It is very uncommon in the range of habitats it is said to be found in. The bird is not globally threatened and can be found in protected areas in Zambia. [2]
The white-winged tern, or white-winged black tern, is a species of tern in the family Laridae. It is a small species generally found in or near bodies of fresh water across much of the world, including Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia. The genus name is from Ancient Greek khelidonios, "swallow-like", from khelidon, "swallow".
The village weaver , also known as the spotted-backed weaver or black-headed weaver, is a species of bird in the family Ploceidae found in much of sub-Saharan Africa. It has also been introduced to Portugal and Venezuela as well as to the islands of Hispaniola, Martinique, Puerto Rico, Mauritius and Réunion.
The dark pewee is a small passerine bird in the tyrant flycatcher family. It is endemic to the Talamancan montane forests of Costa Rica and western Panama.
The lesser striped swallow is a large swallow. It breeds in Sub-Saharan Africa from Sierra Leone and southern Sudan south into eastern South Africa. It is partially migratory with South African birds wintering further north. West African birds leave the north of the breeding range in the dry season.
The white-throated swallow is a small bird in the swallow family. It is a common species, found in southern Africa, which has benefited from the increased nesting opportunities presented by the construction of bridges and dams.
The southern masked weaver, or African masked weaver, is a resident breeding bird species common throughout southern Africa.
The African snipe also known as the Ethiopian snipe, is a small stocky wader. It breeds in eastern and southern Africa in wet mountain moorland and swamps at altitudes of 1,700–4,000 m (5,600–13,100 ft). When not breeding it disperses widely, including into coastal lowlands.
The Madagascar sandgrouse is a species of bird in the family Pteroclidae. It is endemic to Madagascar and is a ground-dwelling short-legged plump bird. The head of the male is brown with a black area surrounding the beak. It has a pinkish-buff coloured breast, a light brown mottled back, brown wings and paler underparts barred with dark brown. The female has a generally duller appearance being cryptically coloured brown with dark specks and bars.
The brown-hooded kingfisher is a species of bird in the subfamily Halcyoninae, the tree kingfishers. It has a brown head and blackish and turquoise wings. It is found in Sub-Saharan Africa, living in woodland, scrubland, forest edges, and also suburban areas. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has assessed it as being of least concern.
The baglafecht weaver is a species of weaver bird from the family Ploceidae which is found in eastern and central Africa. There are several disjunct populations with distinguishable plumage patterns. Only some races display a discrete non-breeding plumage.
The Taveta weaver, also known as the Taveta golden weaver, is a species of bird in the weaver family, Ploceidae. It is found on the African savannah in Kenya and Tanzania. The name of the bird comes from the unique markings/coloration of the bird, as well as how these birds weave intricate nests.
The nelicourvi weaver is a species of bird in the family Ploceidae. It is endemic to Madagascar. Together with its closest relative, the sakalava weaver, it is sometimes placed in a separate genus Nelicurvius. A slender, sparrow-like bird, it is 15 cm (5.9 in) long and weighing 20–28 g (0.71–0.99 oz). Breeding males have a black bill and head, brown eyes, yellow collar, grey belly, chestnut-brown lower tail coverts, olive back, and blackish flight feathers edged greenish. Non-breeding males have mottled grey and green heads. In the breeding female the front of the head is yellow and the back olive green, with a broad yellow eyebrow. It builds solitary, roofed, retort-shaped nests, hanging by a rope from a branch, vine or bamboo stem, in an open space. It primarily feeds on insects, looking on its own or in very small groups, often together with long-billed bernieria. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland and mountain forests. The conservation status of Nelicourvi weaver is least concern according to the IUCN Red List.
The Sakalava weaver sometimes known as the Sakalava fody is a species of bird in the family Ploceidae. It is endemic to Madagascar. The bird is 15 cm (5.9 in) long and weighs 20–28 g (0.71–0.99 oz).
The black-capped social weaver is a sparrow-like species of bird that has been assigned to the weaverbird family. It was originally described by Fisher and Reichenow, and later re-classified by the latter to the genus Pseudonigrita. Adults have a large black cap, ivory-colored bill, red eyes, brown back and wings, blackish-brown tail, white throat and underparts with a black midline, and dark horn-colored legs. It breeds in colonies and roofed nests with an entrance at the bottom in thorny trees such as acacias are constructed by the male from grass stems. It is found in parts of Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, and Tanzania. It is sometimes kept and bred in captivity.