Speke's weaver

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Speke's weaver
Speke's weaver (Ploceus spekei).jpg
Adult male
Soysambu Conservancy, Kenya
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Ploceidae
Genus: Ploceus
Species:
P. spekei
Binomial name
Ploceus spekei
(Heuglin, 1861)
Adult female Spekes Weaver female RWD.jpg
Adult female

Speke's weaver (Ploceus spekei) is a familiar East African songbird.

The eyes are pale and the bill is on the large side for a weaver. Unlike many weavers, it has the same plumage all year. The adult male is yellow with black throat (edged rusty), face, and bill, and variable black mottling on the back. The adult female's upperparts are dull olive-gray with dusky brown streaks; the underparts are pale yellow, whiter on the belly and grayer on the flanks. The juvenile is similar but duller. [2]

The song is variable; one version is transcribed as "pew…pew…tew, chinkichi-chewchew-skerinkitsitew". Calls include harsh chatter at the nest and a sharp "tseep!" [2]

This species nests in colonies or occasionally singly. The nest, often woven in an acacia, is spherical with a short entrance tube opening sideways or downward. Many grass stems project sloppily, sometimes obscuring the shape. [2] It nests in both the short rainy season and the middle of the long rainy season. Typical clutches comprise four eggs, which are unmarked deep blue, somewhat pointed at both ends, 24 to 26 mm long and 15 to 17 mm wide. [3]

Speke's weaver is found in northern and eastern Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya (mostly the central highlands), and north-eastern Tanzania. [4] It inhabits savanna, bush, agricultural land, and towns. [2] In parts of its range it is common, [2] notably the densely populated area of Nairobi and environs, where it visits bird feeders. [4]

This bird was named in honor of John Speke. [5]

Related Research Articles

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Black-necked weaver species of bird

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Red-billed quelea A small, migratory weaver bird native to Sub-Saharan Africa

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Chestnut sparrow species of bird

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<i>Ploceus</i> genus of birds

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Cape weaver species of bird

The Cape weaver is a species of bird in the weaver family, Ploceidae, found in southern Africa.

Southern masked weaver species of bird

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African cuckoo Species of bird

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Orange weaver species of bird

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Baglafecht weaver species of bird

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.

Taveta weaver species of bird

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.

Asian golden weaver species of bird

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.

Lesser masked weaver species of bird

The lesser masked weaver is a species of bird in the family Ploceidae. It builds its nests in large colonies, often alongside the village weaver and sometimes the red-billed buffalo weaver. This species is commonly parasitised by the Diederik cuckoo. It is found in eastern, south-eastern and southern Africa.

Nelicourvi weaver species of bird

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.

Spectacled weaver species of bird

The spectacled weaver is a species of bird in the family Ploceidae. It is found widely in woodland, forest edge and gardens of central, eastern and south-eastern Africa, but is absent from the most arid regions and dense, primary rainforest. This common species breeds in solitary pairs, and both sexes are bright yellow, have an olive-yellow back, black "spectacles" and pale eyes. The male has a black throat.

The Tanzanian masked weaver, or Tanganyika masked weaver, is a species of bird in the weaver family, Ploceidae. It is found in and around swamps in south-western Tanzania and north-eastern Zambia. The Lufira masked weaver is sometimes treated as a subspecies of this bird.

Sakalava weaver species of bird

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).

Grey-capped social weaver species of bird

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. Recent DNA-analysis confirms it is part of the weaver family. It is found in Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda.

References

  1. BirdLife International (2012). "Ploceus spekei". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . IUCN. 2012. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Zimmerman, Dale A.; Turner, Donald A.; Pearson, David J. (1999). Birds of Kenya and Northern Tanzania. Princeton University Press. pp. 248, 536, 541. ISBN   0-691-01022-6.
  3. Fuggles-Couchman, NR (1946). "Further Notes on Nesting Habits and the Breeding Seasons of Some Tanganyika Birds". Tanganyika Notes and Records. 4 (21): 9–18. doi:10.1177/002198946900400106 . Retrieved 2007-04-08.
  4. 1 2 "Speke's Weaver". Kenya Birds. Retrieved 2007-04-08.
  5. Beolen, Bo; Watkins, Michael (2004). Whose Bird? Common Bird Names and the People They Commemorate. Yale University Press. p. 308. ISBN   0-300-10359-X.