Weavers | |
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A male village weaver (Ploceus cucullatus bohndorffi), building his nest | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Passeriformes |
Superfamily: | Passeroidea |
Family: | Ploceidae Sundevall, 1836 |
Genera | |
See text. |
Ploceidae is a family of small passerine birds, many of which are called weavers, weaverbirds, weaver finches, or bishops. These names come from the nests of intricately woven vegetation created by birds in this family. In most recent classifications, the Ploceidae are a clade that excludes some birds that have historically been placed in the family, such as some of the sparrows, but which includes the monotypic subfamily Amblyospizinae. The family is believed to have originated in the mid-Miocene. [1] All birds of the Ploceidae are native to the Old World, most in Africa south of the Sahara, though a few live in tropical areas of Asia. A few species have been introduced outside their native range. [2]
The family Ploceidae was introduced (as Ploceïdes) by Swedish zoologist Carl Jakob Sundevall in 1836. [3] [4] Phylogenetic studies have shown that the family is sister to a clade containing the families Viduidae and Estrildidae [5] Their common ancestor lived in the middle Miocene around 18 million years ago. [6]
A 2017 molecular phylogenetic study by Thilina de Silva and collaborators, as well as an expanded study by the same group published in 2019 have indicated that the genus Ploceus as currently defined is polyphyletic. [7] [8] A cladogram based on these results is shown below. [8]
Ploceidae |
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The family includes 15 genera with a total of 122 species. [9] For more detail, see list of Ploceidae species.
Image | Genus | Species |
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Bubalornis A. Smith, 1836 |
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DinemelliaReichenbach, 1863 |
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Plocepasser A. Smith, 1836 |
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HisturgopsReichenow, 1887 |
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Pseudonigrita Reichenow, 1903 |
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PhiletairusA. Smith, 1837 |
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Sporopipes Cabanis, 1847 |
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AmblyospizaSundevall, 1850 |
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Ploceus Cuvier, 1816 |
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Malimbus Vieillot, 1805 |
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Quelea Reichenbach, 1850 |
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AnaplectesReichenbach, 1863 |
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Foudia Reichenbach, 1850 |
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BrachycopeReichenow, 1900 |
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Euplectes Swainson, 1829 |
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The males of many species in this family are brightly coloured, usually in red or yellow and black. Some species show variation in colour only in the breeding season. These are seed-eating birds with rounded conical bills.
The weaverbird colonies may be found close to bodies of water.
Weavers are named for their elaborately woven nests. The nests vary in size, shape, material used, and construction techniques from species to species. Materials used for building nests include fine leaf fibers, grass, and twigs. Many species weave very fine nests using thin strands of leaf fiber, though some, like the buffalo-weavers, form massive untidy stick nests in their colonies, which may have spherical woven nests within. The sociable weavers of Africa build apartment-house nests, in which 100 to 300 pairs have separate flask-shaped chambers entered by tubes at the bottom. The sparrow weavers live in family units that employ cooperative breeding. [10] Most species weave nests that have narrow entrances, facing downward.
Many weaver species are gregarious and breed colonially. [2] The birds build their nests together for protection, often several to a branch. Usually the male birds weave the nests and use them as a form of display to lure prospective females.
They sometimes cause crop damage, notably the red-billed quelea, reputed to be the world's most numerous bird. [11] [12]
The bird genus Hirundo is a group of passerines in the family Hirundinidae. The genus name is Latin for a swallow. These are the typical swallows, including the widespread barn swallow. Many of this group have blue backs, red on the face and sometimes the rump or nape, and whitish or rufous underparts. With fifteen species this genus is the largest in its family.
The black-necked weaver is a resident breeding bird species in much of central Africa from Cameroon in the west to Kenya and southern Somalia in the east.
The northern red bishop or orange bishop is a small passerine bird in the family Ploceidae. It is part of the largest genus in the family with over 60 different species. Its sister species is the Southern red bishop. This species is most recognizable by the bright reddish orange with contrasting black plumage displayed by the breeding male. It is most common throughout the northern African continent but has also been introduced to areas in the western hemisphere.
The red-billed quelea, also known as the red-billed weaver or red-billed dioch, is a small—approximately 12 cm (4.7 in) long and weighing 15–26 g (0.53–0.92 oz)—migratory, sparrow-like bird of the weaver family, Ploceidae, native to Sub-Saharan Africa.
Quelea is a genus of small passerine birds that belongs to the weaver family Ploceidae, confined to Africa. These are small-sized, sparrow- or finch-like gregarious birds, with bills adapted to eating seeds. Queleas may be nomadic over vast ranges; the red-billed quelea is said to be the most numerous bird species in the world.
Ploceus is a genus of birds in the weaver family, Ploceidae. They are native to the Indomalayan and Afrotropical realms.
The thick-billed weaver, or grosbeak weaver, is a distinctive and bold species of weaver bird that is native to the Afrotropics. It belongs to the monotypic genus Amblyospiza and subfamily Amblyospizinae.
The red-collared widowbird is a species of bird in the family Ploceidae. Red-collared widowbirds are found in grasslands and bush clearings in western and southern Africa. They are known for their long tails and brilliant red badges, both of which act as sexual ornaments. They are often associated with other widowbird and bishop species. They are polygynous, where males acquisition of territory is an important determinant in their access to mates. Red-collared widowbirds have a wide range and there is little concern in terms of conservation status.
The sociable weaver is a species of bird in the weaver family, endemic to Southern Africa. It is the only species in its genus Philetairus. It is found in South Africa, Namibia, and Botswana, but its range is centered within the Northern Cape Province of South Africa. The species builds large, compound, community nests, a rarity among birds. These nests are perhaps the most spectacular structure built by any bird.
The sparrow-weavers (Plocepasser) are a genus of birds in the family Ploceidae (weavers), but some taxonomic authorities place them in the family Passeridae.
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 compact weaver is a species of bird in the family Ploceidae. It is found in the African countries of Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, and Zambia.
The grey-capped social weaver is a sparrow-like liver-colored bird, with a pale grey crown, a dark grey bill, a whitish eye-ring, horn-colored legs, with some black in the wing and a light terminal band in the tail, that builds roofed nests made of straws, breeds in colonies in thorny Acacia trees, and feeds in groups gathering grass seeds and insects. Male and female have near identical plumage. DNA-analysis confirms it is part of the weaver family. It is found in Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda.
Pseudonigrita is a genus of sparrow-like birds in the weaverbird family.
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.
The cardinal quelea is a species of bird in the family Ploceidae. It is found in Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia.
The red-headed quelea is a species of bird in the family Ploceidae. It is found in Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, São Tomé and Príncipe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, South Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
The yellow-crowned bishop is a species of passerine bird in the family Ploceidae native to Africa south of the Sahara. It is highly sexually dimorphic in its breeding season, during which the male adopts a distinctive yellow and black plumage, contrasting with the female's predominantly brown coloration. Four subspecies are recognised.
The olive-naped weaver is a bird species in the family Ploceidae. It is found in West Africa from Senegal and Gambia to Cameroon.