Stats

Lifespan: 5-14 yrs
Size: Small
Diet: Omnivore
Activity: Diurnal
Social: Colony
Biome: Tropical savanna
Range: Sub-Saharan Africa
Movement: Flight
Breeding: Egg-laying
Defense: Herd Safety
Status: Uncommon

About

A stocky, sparrow-sized weaver of sub-Saharan Africa renowned for its intricately woven grass nests suspended from tree branches. Males are unmistakable in breeding plumage — blazing yellow body set off by a jet-black face mask that sweeps from the bill through the eyes and down the throat, with brick-red eyes that glow within the mask.

Life cycle

1.
egg
A small clutch of speckled eggs is incubated in a cup nest, turned and kept warm by the parent.
2.
hatchling
A pink, blind hatchling is fed by its parents in the nest, gaping its bill at every visit.
3.
juvenile
A feathered juvenile fledges from the nest, learning to fly and to forage close to its parents.
4.
adult
Fully grown with adult plumage and song.

Learn more

Taxonomy

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Ploceidae
Genus: Ploceus
Species: Ploceus cucullatus