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WEAVERS

Order Passeriformes    Family

Weavers are seed-eating birds with rounded conical bills, most of which breed in sub-Saharan Africa, with fewer species in tropical Asia and also in Australia. The weaver group is divided into the buffalo-weavers, sparrow-weavers and typical weavers. The males of many species are brightly coloured, usually in red or yellow and black, some species show variation in colour only in the breeding season. Weaver get their name because of 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. Most species weave nests that have narrow entrances, facing downward. The weavers are gregarious birds which often breed colonially. Usually the male birds weave the nests and use them as a form of display to lure prospective females.

Also in the weaver family are bishops, malimbes, fody's, widowbirds.


Genus Euplectes Found: Africa

Bishop, Black  Euplectes gierowii   Found: Africa 
The male Black Bishop has black wings, tail, breast, cheeks, forehead; orange or orange-red neck, back of head, breast band. Females have mainly dark plumage; dark spots on white breast.
Image by: 1, 2) Martin Grimm


Bishop,_Black-winged  also Black-winged Red Bishop  Euplectes hordeaceus  Found: Africa
The breeding male Black-winged Bishop has black face, belly, wings; brown tail; rest scarlet. Nonbreeding male has yellow-brown upperparts with streaking. Female similar but paler.
Image by: 1) Thomas_Brown  2, 3) Dick Daniels - Birds of Eden, South Africa  4) Nigel_Voaden - DR Congo
1) Female 2 - 4) Male


Bishop,_Fire-fronted  Euplectes diadematus  Found: Kenya, Somalia, Tanzania
Image by: 1) Per_Holmen - Kenya
1) Breeding male


Bishop,_Golden-backed  Euplectes aureus  Found: Angola and São Tomé and Príncipe
Image by: 1) Nik_Borrow  2) Bruno_Portier
1) Non-breeding adult 2) Breeding male


Bishop,_Orange   also  Northern Red Bishop  Euplectes franciscanus  Found: North America (escapees), Africa (north of equator)
Similar to Red Bishop. The Orange Bishop and Red Bishop were once considered the same species. Orange Bishop is usually found north of the equator and Red Bishop south of the equator. The black on the male Orange Bishop's head tends to extend further back than that of the Red Bishop.
Image by: 1) Nathan Rupert - San Diego, California  2) Luc Viatour / www.Lucnix.be  3) Steve Garvie - The Gambia  4) Trisha Shears - Binder Park Zoo   5) Frans_Vandewalle - Gambia
1) Female  2-5) Male



Bishop, Red also Southern Red Bishop  Euplectes orix  Found: Africa  (south of equator)
Similar to Orange Bishop. The Orange Bishop and Red Bishop were once considered the same species. Orange Bishop is usually found north of the equator and Red Bishop south of the equator. The black on the male Orange Bishop's head tends to extend further back than that of the Red Bishop.
Image by: 1, 2) Derek Keats - South Africa  3) Dick Daniels - Bronx Zoo  4) JJ Harrison - The Bird Walk aviary in Australia  5) Craig Adam - South Africa   6) Dick Daniels in Oudtshoorn, South Africa  6) Dick between Swellendam and De Hook, South Africa
1, 2) Female  3) Male in transition plumage  4, 5, 6) Male



Bishop,_Yellow-crowned  Euplectes afer   Found: Africa
Image by: 1, 2, 3) Muchaxo - Portugal (introduced)  2) Nik Borrow  3) Mikes_Birds  4) Steve_Garvie - Kenya
1) Juvenile 2) Female  3, 4) Breeding male


Bishop, Zanzibar  also Zanzibar Red Bishop  Euplectes nigroventris  Found: Kenya, Mozambique, Tanzania
Image by: Dick Daniels - Butterfly World, Florida


Widow, Yellow-rumped  also Yellow Bishop  Euplectes capensis  Found: Africa
Image by: 1) Alan_Manson - South Africa   2) Darren Bellerby - Kenya  3, 4) Dick Daniels - South Africa  5) Francesco_Veronesi - Kenya
1) Juvenile ma;e  2) Female   3, 4, 5) Male



Widowbird,_Fan-tailed  Euplectes axillaris  Found: Africa
Image by: 1) Stig_Nygaard - Tanzania  2) Nigel_Voaden - Tanzania  3) Maans_Booysen - Angola  3) Derek_Keats - South Africa


Widowbird,_Jackson's   Euplectes jacksoni  Found; Kenya, Tanzania
Image by: 1) John_Gerrard_Keulemans  2) Francesco_Veronesi - Tanzania  3) Jayanth Sharma


Widowbird, Long-tailed   Euplectes progne   Found: Africa
The breeding male Long-tailed Widowbird has mainly black plumage; orange and white shoulders; bluish-white bill. Female has streaked tawny and black plumage.
Image by: 1) Dick Daniels - specimen in Nairobi National Museum, Kenya   3) Derek_Keats - South Africa 4, 5) Joseph Mochoge - Gilgil, Kenya   5) Martin Heigan  6) Ecologyweb
1, 2) Female  3 - 6) Male



Widowbird,_Montane  Euplectes psammacromius  Found: Malawi, Tanzania, Zambia
Image by: 1, 2, 3) Dave_Appleton - Malawi  4) Davidk79 - Tanzania


Widowbird,_Marsh  Euplectes hartlaubi  Found: Africa
Image by: 1) Dick Daniels - specimen in Nairobi National Museum, Kenya  2) Maans_Booysen
1) Male


Widowbird, Red-collared  Euplectes ardens  Found: Africa
Image by: 1) Dick Daniels - specimen in Nairobi National Museum, Kenya  2) Nigel_Voaden - DR Congo  3, 4) Dave Curtis - Kenya


Widowbird, White-winged Euplectes albonotatus  Found: Africa (south of Sahara)
Image by: 1) Ross Tsai - Uganda  2) Derek_Keats South Africa  3) Renke Rommerskirchen - South Africa  4)  Ian White - Botswana   5) Tude e Joao - Botswana



Widowbird,_Yellow-mantled  Euplectes macroura  Found: Africa
The male Yellow-mantled Widowbird has yellow shouders. In breeding season it also has yellow mantle and a longer tail; rest plumage black.
age by: 1) Lionel_Sineux  2) P_Khoo  3) Nigel_Voaden
1) Female 2, 3) Male



Genus Foudia Found: island of the western Indian Ocean, including Madagascar
Males in breeding plumage are usually colorful with bright red or yellow on the head and sometimes elsewhere. Non-breeding males and females are dull, sparrow-like birds with mostly grey-brown plumage.

Fody, Forest  Foudia omissa  Found: Madagascar
Image by: 1) Ross Tsai  2) Gail Hampshire  3) Jerry_Oldenettel


Fody, Madagascar  also  Red Fody  Foudia madagascariensis  Found: Madagascar
Image by: 1) Marion Schneider & Christoph Aistleitner  Trisha Shears - Louisville Zoo  2) Keepps  David_Dennis  4028mdk09
1, 2) Female 3) Eclipse male  4, 5) Male



Fody,_Mauritius  Foudia rubra  Found: Mauritius (islands east of Madagascar
The breeding male Mauitius Fody has olive-brown upperparts; red head, breast, rump patch; black lores. Females and nonbreeding males  have olive-brown plumage with white wing-bars; brown bill.
Image by: 1) Eliane Küpfer   2) Sergey_Yeliseev  3) Jerry_Oldenettel 4) Yamad
1) Molting male  3, 4) Breeding male


Fody, Red-headed  Foudia eminentissima  Found: Madagascar, Comoros, Mayotte, Seychelles.
Image by: 1) Josephe Huet  2) SaveTheWild


Fody,_Rodrigues  Foudia flavicans  Found: Rodrigues, an island of Mauritius (east of Madagascar)
Image by: 1) P_Khoo  2) David_Graphy


Fody,_Seychelles  Foudia sechellarum  Found: Seychelles (in Indian Ocean east of Africa)
The Seychelles Fody has drab olive upperparts; black bill. Breeding male has yellow face; female does not.
Image by: 1) Post_of_Seychelles  2) Adrien  3) Island_Conservation




Genus Malimbus Found: Africa
These are forest weavers.

Malimbe,_Blue-billed   Malimbus nitens  Found: Africa
Image by: 1) Francesco_Verones - Ghana


Malimbe,_Cassin'salso Black-throated Malimbe   Malimbus cassini  Found: Africa
Image by: 1, 3) Marcel_Holyoak - Cameroon  2) John_Gerrard_Keulemans


Malimbe,_Crested   Malimbus malimbicus  Found: Africa
Image by: 1) Internet_Archive_Book_Images  2) Francesco_Veronesi - Ghana
1) Top - male; bottom - female


Malimbe,_Gola  also  Ballman's Malimbe   Malimbus ballmanni  Found: Ivory Coast, Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone
The male Gola Malimbe has mainly black plumage; yellow breast-band, rump. Female almost completely black with indistinct yellow crescent on breast.
Image by: 1) Nik_Borrow - Sierra Leone
1) Male


Malimbe,_Ibadan   Malimbus ibadanensis  Found: Nigeria
The Ibadan Malimbe has mainly black plumage; red hood, breast. Female has similar plumage with smaller red areas.
Image by: 1) rotimiogunjobl


Malimbe,_Rachel's   Malimbus racheliae  Found: Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Nigeria
Image by: 1) Nik_Borrow - Cameroon


Malimbe,_Red-bellied  Malimbus erythrogaster  Found: Africa
Image by: 1) characters


Malimbe,_Red-crowned   Malimbus coronatus  Found: Africa
Image by: 1) John_Gerrard_Keulemans  2) Nik_Borrow - Gabon


Malimbe,_Red-headed  Malimbus rubricollis  Found: Africa
Image by: 1, 3) Tom Tarrant - Uganda  2) Francesco_Veronesi - Ghana


Malimbe,_Red-vented   Malimbus scutatus  Found: Africa
The male Red-vented Malimbe has mainly black plumage; red crown, nape, bib, vent. Female similar but no red on head.
Image by: 1, 2) Nik_Borrow - Sierra Leone



Genus Quelea Found: Africa

Quelea,_Cardinal    Quelea cardinalis  Found: Africa
The breeding male Cardinal Quela red head, throat. Female has yellowish face; whitish supercilium. Nonbreeding male similar to female but has some red on face, neck.
Image by: 1, 2, 3) David_Bygott - Tanzania


Quelea, Red-billed  Quelea quelea   Found: Africa
Image by:   1, 2) Dick Daniels - Birds of Eden, South Africa (Identifed by Charlie Westerinen)  Lip_kee - Tanzania   Bernard_Dupont - South Africa
1) Female   3) Nonbreeding male  4) Breeding male


Quelea,_Red-headed   Quelea erythrops  Found: Africa
Image by: 1) Nik Borrow - Ghana  2) Francesco_Veronesi - South Africa
1) Non-breeding male 2) Breeding male





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