I've been staying home and nesting that's why this week's bird is a weaver bird. Check out its nest. This might be a baby. Anyway the carpet is on order and I'm catching up on housework, gardening, and getting together with friends... and it feels good. This was taken in Tanzania.
The Rufous-tailed Weaver (Histurgops ruficaudus) is an East African songbird. Despite its name, it is placed the Old World sparrow family (Passeridae).
It is a quite unusual sparrow species, and was included in the weaverbird family (Ploceidae) by many authors even after the other Old World sparrows were separated from the weaverbirds proper, hence its common name. Due to its distant position among the Old World sparrows, it is placed in the monotypic genus Histurgops.[citation needed]
It is an endemic breeder in Tanzania, but vagrants occur in Kenya too.
Speke's Weaver (Ploceus spekei) is a familiar East African songbird.
Immature male, Serengeti NP, Tanzania
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.[1]
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!" [1]
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.[1] 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.[2]
Speke's Weaver is found in northern and eastern Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya (mostly the central highlands), and northeastern Tanzania.[3] It inhabits savanna, bush, agricultural land, and towns.[1] In parts of its range it is common,[1] notably the densely populated area of Nairobi and environs, where it visits bird feeders.[3]
This bird was named in honor of John Speke.[4]
The Rufous-tailed Weaver (Histurgops ruficaudus) is an East African songbird. Despite its name, it is placed the Old World sparrow family (Passeridae).
It is a quite unusual sparrow species, and was included in the weaverbird family (Ploceidae) by many authors even after the other Old World sparrows were separated from the weaverbirds proper, hence its common name. Due to its distant position among the Old World sparrows, it is placed in the monotypic genus Histurgops.[citation needed]
It is an endemic breeder in Tanzania, but vagrants occur in Kenya too.
Speke's Weaver (Ploceus spekei) is a familiar East African songbird.
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!" [1]
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.[1] 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.[2]
Speke's Weaver is found in northern and eastern Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya (mostly the central highlands), and northeastern Tanzania.[3] It inhabits savanna, bush, agricultural land, and towns.[1] In parts of its range it is common,[1] notably the densely populated area of Nairobi and environs, where it visits bird feeders.[3]
This bird was named in honor of John Speke.[4]
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