Ploceus melanocephalus
The Black-headed Weaver, Ploceus melanocephalus, is a striking medium-sized passerine celebrated for its intricate nest-building skills. Males in breeding plumage are particularly resplendent, featuring a vivid black head and upper breast, contrasted with a chestnut nape and bright yellow underparts, a field mark that makes them unmistakable. Females and non-breeding males are comparatively drab, showcasing a streaky brown plumage with a paler bill, often leading to identification challenges ...
This species primarily inhabits wet grasslands, marshes, swamps, and cultivated areas like rice fields, always in close proximity to water sources. It is typically found at low to moderate elevations, rarely exceeding 1,500 meters.
Their diet consists mainly of seeds, particularly those from grasses and cultivated cereals like rice, supplemented with a significant intake of insects, especially during the breeding season.
Black-headed Weavers are diurnal and highly social birds, often forming large, noisy flocks outside the breeding season that roost communally in dense vegetation. Foraging occurs both on the ground and within vegetation, where they glean seeds and insects with efficiency. During the breeding seas...
The Black-headed Weaver boasts an expansive range across sub-Saharan Africa, primarily extending from Senegal in the west, eastwards through the Sahel and Savannah zones to Sudan, Ethiopia, and parts of Eritrea. Its distribution reaches south through parts of Central Africa, including Democratic ...
Least Concern
- The name "Weaver" is not merely descriptive; males are master architects, able to construct an entire complex nest in as little as one to three days. - A single male Black-headed Weaver is polygynous and may mate with up to seven different females in one breeding season, each in a separate nest...