Birds Guide

Weaver
Slender-billed Weaver
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia   Phylum: Chordata   Class: Aves   Order: Passeriformes   Family: Ploceidae Sundevall, 1836
Genera
Many:see text

The Weavers are small passerine birds related to the finches.

These 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, sparrow, typical, and widow 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 birds, also known as weaver finches get their name because of their elaborately woven nests (the most elaborate of any birds), though some are notable for their selective parasitic nesting habits. 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, and some like the buffalo-weavers, however, form massive untidy stick nests in their colonies, which may have several spherical woven nests within. The sparrow weavers of Africa build apartment-house nests, in which 100 to 300 pairs have separate flask-shaped chambers entered by tubes at the bottom. Most species weave nests that have narrow entrances, facing upside down.

The weavers are gregarious birds which often breed colonially. The birds build their nests together, often several to a branch. Usually the male birds weave the nests and use them as a form of display to lure prospective females. The weaver bird colonies may be found close to water bodies. They sometimes cause crop damage, notably the Red-billed Quelea, reputed to be the world's most numerous bird.

Species list in taxonomic order

Weaver birds and nests in western India. Village Weaver colony in The Gambia. The nests are the spherical suspended objects Weaver bird nest at Kotaballappalli, Karnataka, India. Weaver bird weaving a nest at Kotaballappalli, Karnataka, India. Weaver bird hanging down its nest at Kotaballappalli, Karnataka, India. Weaver birds and a bunch of nests at Kotaballappalli, Karnataka, India.

• Genus: Anomalospiza
  • Grosbeak Weaver, Amblyospiza albifrons
    Parasitic Weaver, Anomalospiza imberbis

• Genus: Anaplectes
  • Red-headed Weaver, Anaplectes rubriceps

• Genus: Bracycope
  • Bob-tailed Weaver, Brachycope anomala

• Genus: Bubalornis
  • Red-billed Buffalo-weaver, Bubalornis niger
    White-billed Buffalo-weaver, Bubalornis albirostris

• Genus: Dinemellia
  • White-headed Buffalo-weaver, Dinemellia dinemelli

• Genus: Euplectes
  • Black Bishop, Euplectes gierowii
    Black-winged Red Bishop, Euplectes hordeaceus
    Buff-shouldered Widowbird, Euplectes psammocromius
    Fan-tailed Widowbird, Euplectes axillaris
    Fire-fronted Bishop, Euplectes diadematus
    Golden-backed Bishop, Euplectes aureus
    Jackson's Widowbird, Euplectes jacksoni
    Long-tailed Widowbird, Euplectes progne
    Marsh Widowbird, Euplectes hartlaubi
    Northern Red Bishop, Euplectes orix
    Orange Bishop, Euplectes franciscanus
    Red-collared Widowbird, Euplectes ardens
    White-winged Widowbird, Euplectes albonotatus
    Yellow Bishop, Euplectes capensis
    Yellow-crowned Bishop, Euplectes afer
    Yellow-shouldered Widowbird, Euplectes macrourus
    Zanzibar Bishop, Euplectes nigroventris

• Genus: Foudia
  • Forest Fody, Foudia omissa
    Mauritius Fody, Foudia rubra
    Red Fody, Foudia madagascariensis
    Red-headed Fody, Foudia eminentissima
    Rodrigues Fody, Foudia flavicans
    Seychelles Fody, Foudia sechellarum

• Genus: Histurgops
  • Rufous-tailed Weaver, Histurgops ruficauda

• Genus: Malimbus
  • Ballmann's Malimbe, Malimbus ballmanni
    Black-throated Malimbe, Malimbus cassini
    Crested Malimbe, Malimbus malimbicus
    Gray's Malimbe, Malimbus nitens
    Ibadan Malimbe, Malimbus ibadanensis
    Rachel's Malimbe, Malimbus racheliae
    Red-bellied Malimbe, Malimbus erythrogaster
    Red-crowned Malimbe, Malimbus coronatus
    Red-headed Malimbe, Malimbus rubricollis
    Red-vented Malimbe, Malimbus scutatus
    Yellow-legged Malimbe, Malimbus flavipes
• Genus: Pacyphantes
  • Compact Weaver, Pachyphantes superciliosus

• Genus: Philetairus
  • Social Weaver, Philetairus socius

• Genus: Plocepasser
  • Chestnut-backed Sparrow-weaver, Plocepasser rufoscapulatus
    Chestnut-crowned Sparrow-weaver, Plocepasser superciliosus
    Donaldson-Smith's Sparrow-weaver, Plocepasser donaldsoni
    White-browed Sparrow-weaver, Plocepasser mahali

• Genus: Ploceus
  • African Golden-weaver, Ploceus subaureus
    African Masked-weaver, Ploceus velatus
    Asian Golden Weaver, Ploceus hypoxanthus
    Baglafecht Weaver, Ploceus baglafecht
    Bannerman's Weaver, Ploceus bannermani
    Bar-winged Weaver, Ploceus angolensis
    Bates' Weaver, Ploceus batesi
    Baya Weaver, Ploceus philippinus
    Bengal Weaver, Ploceus benghalensis
    Bertrand's Weaver, Ploceus bertrandi
    Black-billed Weaver, Ploceus melanogaster
    Black-chinned Weaver, Ploceus nigrimentum
    Black-headed Weaver, Ploceus melanocephalus
    Black-necked Weaver, Ploceus nigricollis
    Bocage's Weaver, Ploceus temporalis
    Brown-capped Weaver, Ploceus insignis
    Cape Weaver, Ploceus capensis
    Chestnut Weaver, Ploceus rubiginosus
    Cinnamon Weaver, Ploceus badius
    Clarke's Weaver, Ploceus golandi
    Forest Weaver, Ploceus bicolor
    Fox's Weaver, Ploceus spekeoides
    Giant Weaver, Ploceus grandis
    Golden Palm Weaver, Ploceus bojeri
    Golden-backed Weaver, Ploceus jacksoni
    Golden-naped Weaver, Ploceus aureonucha
    Heuglin's Masked-weaver, Ploceus heuglini
    Holub's Golden-weaver, Ploceus xanthops
    Kilombero Weaver, Ploceus burnieri
    Lesser Masked-weaver, Ploceus intermedius
    Little Weaver, Ploceus luteolus
    Loango Weaver, Ploceus subpersonatus
    Maxwell's Black Weaver, Ploceus albinucha
    Nelicourvi Weaver, Ploceus nelicourvi
    Northern Brown-throated Weaver, Ploceus castanops
    Northern Masked-weaver, Ploceus taeniopterus
    Olive-headed Weaver, Ploceus olivaceiceps
    Orange Weaver, Ploceus aurantius
    Preuss' Weaver, Ploceus preussi
    Principe Golden-weaver, Ploceus princeps
    Rueppell's Weaver, Ploceus galbula
    Sakalava Weaver, Ploceus sakalava
    Salvadori's Weaver, Ploceus dichrocephalus
    Sao Tome Weaver, Ploceus sanctithomae
    Slender-billed Weaver, Ploceus pelzelni
    Southern Brown-throated Weaver, Ploceus xanthopterus
    Spectacled Weaver, Ploceus ocularis
    Speke's Weaver, Ploceus spekei
    Strange Weaver, Ploceus alienus
    Streaked Weaver, Ploceus manyar
    Tanzania Masked-weaver, Ploceus reichardi
    Taveta Golden-weaver, Ploceus castaneiceps
    Usambara Weaver, Ploceus nicolli
    Vieillot's Weaver, Ploceus nigerrimus
    Village Weaver, Ploceus cucullatus
    Weyns' Weaver, Ploceus weynsi
    Yellow Weaver, Ploceus megarhynchus
    Yellow-capped Weaver, Ploceus dorsomaculatus
    Yellow-mantled Weaver, Ploceus tricolor

• Genus: Pseudonigrita
  • Black-capped Social-weaver, Pseudonigrita cabanisi
    Grey-headed Social-weaver, Pseudonigrita arnaudi

• Genus: Quelea
  • Cardinal Quelea, Quelea cardinalis
    Red-billed Quelea, Quelea quelea
    Red-headed Quelea, Quelea erythrops

• Genus: Sporopipes
  • Scaly Weaver, Sporopipes squamifrons
    Speckle-fronted Weaver, Sporopipes frontalis