kids encyclopedia robot

Weavers facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts
Quick facts for kids
Weavers
Black-headed weaver (Ploceus cucullatus bohndorffi) male nest building.jpg
A male village weaver (Ploceus cucullatus bohndorffi), building his nest
Scientific classification e
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Superfamily: Passeroidea
Family: Ploceidae
Sundevall, 1836
Genera

See text.

Ploceidae is a family of small passerine birds, many of which are called weavers, weaverbirds, weaver finches and bishops. These names come from the nests of intricately woven vegetation created by birds in this family. In most recent classifications, Ploceidae is a clade, which 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.

Taxonomy and systematics

The family Ploceidae was introduced (as Ploceïdes) by the Swedish zoologist Carl Jakob Sundevall in 1836. These species are not closely related to the sparrows (Passeridae) nor to the Emberizidae, according to Luis Allende and colleagues. The family is divided into the buffalo, sparrow, typical, and widow weavers. Weavers get their name because of their elaborately woven nests.

Genera

The following genera are currently classified within the family Ploceidae. For more detail, see list of Ploceidae species.

Weaverbirds at West Bengal
বাবুই পাখি / Weaver Bird at West Bengal, India
Image Genus Species
Red-billed Buffalo Weaver.jpg Bubalornis A. Smith, 1836
Dinemellia dinemelli.jpg Dinemellia Reichenbach, 1863
Plocepasser mahali -Baringo Lake, Kenya -male-8.jpg Plocepasser A. Smith, 1836
  • Donaldson Smith's sparrow-weaver (Plocepasser donaldsoni)
  • Chestnut-backed sparrow-weaver (Plocepasser rufoscapulatus)
  • Chestnut-crowned sparrow-weaver (Plocepasser superciliosus)
  • White-browed sparrow-weaver (Plocepasser mahali)
Weaver bird.jpg Histurgops Reichenow, 1887
  • Rufous-tailed weaver (Histurgops ruficauda)
Black-capped Social-Weaver - Samburu - Kenya S4E5139 (22836895922).jpg Pseudonigrita Reichenow, 1903
Sociable weaver (Philetairus socius).jpg Philetairus A. Smith, 1837
Speckle-fronted Weaver RWD4.jpg Sporopipes Cabanis, 1847
  • Speckle-fronted weaver (Sporopipes frontalis)
  • Scaly-feathered weaver (Sporopipes squamifrons)
Amblyospiza albifrons, w, vreet netel-dopvrugte, a, Skeerpoort.jpg Amblyospiza Carl Jakob Sundevall, 1850
  • Thick-billed weaver (Amblyospiza albifrons)
Black-headed weaver (Ploceus cucullatus bohndorffi) male.jpg Ploceus Cuvier, 1816
  • Baglafecht weaver (Ploceus baglafecht)
  • Bannerman's weaver (Ploceus bannermani)
  • Bates's weaver (Ploceus batesi)
  • Black-chinned weaver (Ploceus nigrimentus)
  • Bertram's weaver (Ploceus bertrandi)
  • Slender-billed weaver (Ploceus pelzelni)
  • Loango weaver (Ploceus subpersonatus)
  • Little weaver (Ploceus luteo)
  • Spectacled weaver (Ploceus ocularis)
  • Black-necked weaver (Ploceus nigricollis)
  • Strange weaver (Ploceus alienus)
  • Black-billed weaver (Ploceus melanogaster)
  • Cape weaver (Ploceus capensis)
  • Bocage's weaver (Ploceus temporalis)
  • Eastern golden weaver (Ploceus subaureus)
  • Holub's golden weaver (Ploceus xanthops)
  • Orange weaver (Ploceus aurantius)
  • Heuglin's masked weaver (Ploceus heuglini)
  • Golden palm weaver (Ploceus bojeri)
  • Taveta weaver (Ploceus castaneiceps)
  • Príncipe weaver (Ploceus princeps)
  • Northern brown-throated weaver (Ploceus castanops)
  • Southern brown-throated weaver (Ploceus xanthopterus)
  • Kilombero weaver (Ploceus burnieri)
  • Rüppell's weaver (Ploceus galbula)
  • Northern masked weaver (Ploceus taeniopterus)
  • Lesser masked weaver (Ploceus intermedius)
  • Southern masked weaver (Ploceus velatus)
  • Katanga masked weaver (Ploceus katangae)
  • Lufira masked weaver (Ploceus ruweti)
  • Tanzanian masked weaver (Ploceus reichardi)
  • Vitelline masked weaver (Ploceus vitellinus)
  • Speke's weaver (Ploceus spekei)
  • Fox's weaver (Ploceus spekeoides)
  • Village weaver (Ploceus cucullatus)
  • Giant weaver (Ploceus grandis)
  • Vieillot's black weaver (Ploceus nigerrimus)
  • Weyns's weaver (Ploceus weynsi)
  • Clarke's weaver (Ploceus golandi)
  • Juba weaver (Ploceus dichrocephalus)
  • Black-headed weaver (Ploceus melanocephalus)
  • Golden-backed weaver (Ploceus jacksoni)
  • Cinnamon weaver (Ploceus badius)
  • Chestnut weaver (Ploceus rubiginosus)
  • Golden-naped weaver (Ploceus aureonucha)
  • Yellow-mantled weaver (Ploceus tricolor)
  • Maxwell's black weaver (Ploceus albinucha)
  • Nelicourvi weaver (Ploceus nelicourvi)
  • Sakalava weaver (Ploceus sakalava)
  • Asian golden weaver (Ploceus hypoxanthus)
  • Compact weaver (Ploceus superciliosus)
  • Black-breasted weaver (Ploceus benghalensis)
  • Streaked weaver (Ploceus manyar)
  • Baya weaver (Ploceus philippinus)
  • Finn's weaver (Ploceus megarhynchus)
  • Dark-backed weaver (Ploceus bicolor)
  • Preuss's weaver (Ploceus preussi)
  • Yellow-capped weaver (Ploceus dorsomaculatus)
  • Olive-headed weaver (Ploceus olivaceiceps)
  • Usambara weaver (Ploceus nicolli)
  • Brown-capped weaver (Ploceus insignis)
  • Bar-winged weaver (Ploceus angolensis)
  • São Tomé weaver (Ploceus sanctithomae)
  • Yellow-legged weaver (Ploceus flavipes)
Crested Malimbe - Kakum - Ghana S4E1412 (22229307983).jpg Malimbus Vieillot, 1805
  • Red-crowned malimbe (Malimbus coronatus)
  • Cassin's malimbe (Malimbus cassini)
  • Rachel's malimbe (Malimbus racheliae)
  • Gola malimbe (Malimbus ballmanni)
  • Red-vented malimbe (Malimbus scutatus)
  • Ibadan malimbe (Malimbus ibadanensis)
  • Blue-billed malimbe (Malimbus nitens)
  • Red-headed malimbe (Malimbus rubricollis)
  • Red-bellied malimbe (Malimbus erythrogaster)
  • Crested malimbe (Malimbus malimbicus)
Quelea erythrops -South Africa -building nest-8.jpg Quelea L. Reichenbach, 1850
Red-headed Weaver male RWD.jpg Anaplectes L. Reichenbach, 1863
Madagascar fody (Foudia madagascariensis).jpg Foudia L. Reichenbach, 1850
Brachycope Reichenow, 1900
  • Bob-tailed weaver (Brachycope anomala)
Euplectes progne male South Africa cropped.jpg Euplectes Swainson, 1829

Description

The males of many species in this family are brightly coloured, usually in red or yellow and black. Some species show variation in colour only in the breeding season. These are seed-eating birds with rounded conical bills.

Distribution and habitat

The weaverbird colonies may be found close to bodies of water.

Behaviour and ecology

Although weavers are named for their elaborately woven nests, some are notable for their selective parasitic nesting habits instead. 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, though some, like the buffalo-weavers, form massive untidy stick nests in their colonies, which may have spherical woven nests within. The sociable weavers of Africa build apartment-house nests, in which 100 to 300 pairs have separate flask-shaped chambers entered by tubes at the bottom. The sparrow weavers live in family units that employ cooperative breeding. Most species weave nests that have narrow entrances, facing downward.

Many weaver species are gregarious and breed colonially. The birds build their nests together for protection, often several to a branch. Usually the male birds weave the nests and use them as a form of display to lure prospective females.

Relationship to humans

They sometimes cause crop damage, notably the red-billed quelea, reputed to be the world's most numerous bird.

Gallery

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Weaver para niños

kids search engine
Weavers Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.