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Weird and Wonderful #1

on Feb 28, 2017

Village Weaver – Ploceus Cucullatus (Spotted Backed Weaver)

01Sheldon Hooper Village Weaver 3 Final

Many a guest has exclaimed with intrepid curiosity "what are those things hanging from that tree?" Well those are from something called the Village Weaver.

02Sheldon Hooper Village Weaver Final

This little fellow, as well as the other hundreds or more in the Ploceus species, must be one of the most industrious of any I have come across in the wide African bush. He does with his beak what I, with two opposable thumbs, could never dream of doing, he weaves a basket. A basket you say? This is no ordinary basket though, this is his prospective family home. And how he builds it is truly an amazing feat of engineering. The following clip is of a male starting his nest, watch as he uses only his beak and claws to tie off a single blade of grass to a thin Acacia tree twig.

From this, it develops further and as you can see in the next clip, it begins to take the characteristic kidney shape that always catches the eye of the always vigilant passer-byer.

The following series of images is when the nest is nearing completion and the finishing touches are being made. The dexterity with which he uses his beak is amazing, but in any engineering project, there will be mishaps and as you can see he drops the blade of grass he was working with.

One would think that after all this hard work (it takes nearly 19 hours to complete one nest) he would be guaranteed a mate who would appreciate the effort he has put into providing shelter for her and her eggs? This is not so, females are notoriously picky and they only go for the best. If the nest is not up to standard, the female displays her displeasure by detaching the male’s pride and joy to fall to the ground below.

07Sheldon Hooper Village Weaver 11 Final

A little put off, the male will launch right back into the building process, he knows that if he is to win a mate he will have to do better than the last time. A male will build as many nest as he needs until he is successful in attracting a wife and can mate with up to five different females in a season.

08Sheldon Hooper Village Weaver 2 Final

He is often confused with the Masked Weavers, but one way of telling the difference is in the name. Village Weavers live in large communities of between 10 to 300 individuals and are quite a raucous bunch with much chittering and chattering going on within their community whereas Masked Weavers tend to be more on the solitary side. Also, the nape of their neck has a mottled colouration giving rise to his other common name, the Spotted Backed Weaver.

09Sheldon Hooper Village Weaver 10 Final

Village Weaver

10Sheldon Hooper SMW Final

Southern Masked Weaver

  • Blog by Sheldon Hooper (Bush Lodge Ranger)
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