| Red-billed buffalo weaver | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Ploceidae |
| Genus: | Bubalornis |
| Species: | B. niger |
| Binomial name | |
| Bubalornis niger Smith, 1836 | |
The red-billed buffalo weaver (Bubalornis niger) is a species of bird in the family Ploceidae. It is found in eastern and southern Africa. Its natural habitat is the dry savanna. [1]
The body length of full grown red-billed buffalo weavers is 21 to 25 cm (8.3 to 9.8 in) and body mass averages 82.1 g (2.90 oz) in males and 70.7 g (2.49 oz) in females. This may the largest of the Ploceidae (weaver birds). [2] [3] Visually the sexes are not greatly differentiated from one another. The red-billed buffalo weaver is differentiated from the white-billed buffalo weaver (Bubalornis albirostris) by the color of its bill.
The feathers of the male are dark chocolate brown in color. The front wing edges and the wing tips are flecked with white. His bill is a shade of red. The eyes are brown and the feet are reddish brown. The female's body is also colored dark chocolate brown, without the white flecks on the wings. However, her chin and throat feathers include broad white colored hems. Her eyes are dark brown and her legs light brown. Adolescent birds are a lighter shade of brown. [4]
The diet of the red billed buffalo weaver consists primarily of insects, seed and fruit. Particular insects the bird feeds on include crickets, locusts, grasshoppers, caterpillars, beetles, weevils, wasps, bees, ants, flies, and spiders. Its diet also includes scorpions. Most of these food sources are located in the soil or in low vegetation. As a result, the red-billed buffalo weaver does most of its foraging on the ground. Climate changes have not significantly affected the abundance of prey for the bird. [5]
These birds tend to live in dry savannahs and sparse woodlands. They prefer areas usually disturbed by humans and livestock. [6] In fact, if people living in community with a population of red-billed buffalo weavers leave, the birds often depart as well. Thus as places continue to be urbanized, these birds find more homes. [5] Additionally, overpopulation does not tend to be a problem for the red-billed buffalo weaver seeing as they live in colonies.
The red-billed buffalo weaver has been observed in small family groups or in large flocks. [7]
Males tend to be polygamous and control anywhere from one to eight nest chambers with three females. Typically there is one dominant male who controls the most chambers and the most females. The males in lower social positions control fewer chambers and fewer females. These males will defend their chambers and females by showing aggressive displays and giving loud calls. However, two males sometimes cooperate with each other to build the nest, defend their territory, and help feed the chicks. [5]
Females do not tolerate other females in their chambers while they are nesting and laying their eggs. Females typically feed the chicks (unless they are part of a cooperative breeding colony). The diet consists of insects, seeds, and fruit found near the nest. [5]
Red-billed buffalo weavers breed in colonies. The nests are composed of an enormous mass of thorny twigs. These twigs are divided into separate lodges (compartments), each with multiple egg chambers. Each chamber has a smaller nest, typically built by the female (unless they are part of a cooperative breeding colony). The smaller nest is composed of grass, leaves, and roots. The whole nest is usually found in a thorny tree or in a windmill near areas inhabited by humans. When humans leave particular areas, so do the red-billed buffalo weavers living in the same area. White-backed vultures and bateleurs tend to construct their nests above red-billed buffalo weaver nests, which is helpful in camouflaging their nests from predators. [8]
Male red-billed buffalo weavers possess a pseudo-penis around 1.5 cm long. It was first reported in an 1831 German anatomist's report on the birds and subsequent research has shown that it is female selected. The pseudo-penis has no blood vessels and does not carry sperm but instead appears to be favored by the females for pleasure and aids males in attracting females; males in colonies have larger pseudo-penises than males which live alone, suggesting male-male competition has also favored the growth of this peculiar organ. [9]
Egg laying season can last from September to June, with the peak occurring between December and March. Females lay anywhere from 2 to 4 eggs and incubate them for roughly 14 days. The females are the only ones that tend to the eggs during this period. After 20 to 23 days, the birds leave the nest. [5]
The red-billed buffalo weaver is currently listed as a least concern (LC) on the IUCN status. While the global population of this species has not been estimated, this bird is considered common and the population is stable. [6] There are currently no programs or organizations established to monitor and maintain the LC status of the bird.
Predators of the red-billed buffalo weaver include hawks, eagles, snakes, and baboons. They prey on both adult and adolescent birds. [5]
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. 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.
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 white-billed buffalo weaver is a resident breeding bird species in most of Africa south of the Sahara Desert.
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.
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The African pygmy falcon —or simply pygmy falcon—is a diminutive raptor native to eastern and southern Africa. It is the sole species in its monotypic genus, Polihierax. The pygmy falcon is the smallest bird of prey on the African continent, and among the smallest raptors on earth; only the Asian falconets are smaller, weighing roughly 30-40 grams less and measuring about 5 cm shorter from head-to-tail.
The white-headed buffalo weaver or white-faced buffalo-weaver is a species of passerine bird in the family Ploceidae native to East Africa. The buffalo part of its name derives from its habit of following the African buffalo, feeding on disturbed insects. Two subspecies are recognized.
The Cape weaver is a species of bird in the weaver family, Ploceidae, found in southern Africa.
The wattled starling is a nomadic resident bird in eastern and southern Africa. It is a species of grassland, open woodland, and cultivation.
The gabar goshawk is a small species of African and Arabian bird of prey in the family Accipitridae.
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-headed weaver is a species of bird in the family Ploceidae. It is placed in the monotypic genus Anaplectes and is found throughout the Afrotropics.
The orange weaver is a species of bird in the weaver family, Ploceidae. It is sparsely distributed across African tropical rainforest.
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 Asian golden weaver is a species of bird in the family Ploceidae. It is found in Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical seasonally wet or flooded lowland grassland, swamps, and arable land. It is threatened by habitat loss.
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.
Holub's golden weaver, also known as the African golden weaver, is a species of bird in the family Ploceidae. The common name commemorates the Czech naturalist Emil Holub. It is found from Gabon to Uganda and Kenya, south to northern Namibia, northern Botswana and eastern South Africa. They have a yellow on their heads and light yellow eyes. They live for four years. Their usual call sounds like “chichi-chichi-chi-squirr ski-wee” but there is some variation from regions so some contact calls are a short “chirp.
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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 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.
