Ploceus velatus
The Southern Masked Weaver (Ploceus velatus) is a common and striking passerine bird, renowned for its elaborate nest-building prowess and vivid plumage. Breeding males display a brilliant golden-yellow body contrasting sharply with a jet-black face mask, throat, and bill, complemented by piercing red eyes, measuring approximately 14-15 cm in length and weighing 26-44 grams. Non-breeding males and females are much duller, exhibiting an olive-streaked brown back, pale underparts, and a horn-co...
This adaptable species thrives in a wide array of open habitats, including savannah, grasslands, open woodlands, riverine bush, and particularly human-modified environments like gardens, agricultural fields, and urban parks, especially near water sources. It is typically found at low to moderate ...
Their diet is primarily granivorous, consisting of a variety of grass seeds and cultivated grains, supplemented with insects such as caterpillars, beetles, ants, and termites, particularly during the breeding season to feed their young. They forage actively on the ground and in vegetation.
Southern Masked Weavers are highly social, especially outside the breeding season, forming large, often mixed-species flocks that roost communally in dense reeds or thorny bushes. During the breeding season, males become highly territorial, aggressively defending small nesting territories where t...
The Southern Masked Weaver boasts a wide distribution across Southern Africa, encompassing South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Eswatini (Swaziland), and Lesotho, extending into parts of southern Angola, Zambia, and Mozambique. This species is largely resident throughout its range, although...
Least Concern
- A male Southern Masked Weaver can build an entire complex nest in as little as 3-5 days, sometimes even one day if pressured. - Females are incredibly discerning, often rejecting multiple nests from the same male before accepting one, or even leaving a male if his nest-building skills decline. ...