Biology:White-billed buffalo weaver

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Short description: Species of bird

White-billed buffalo weaver
White-billed Buffalo-Weaver - Baringo - Kenya NH8O0246 (22432169758).jpg
Scientific classification edit
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Ploceidae
Genus: Bubalornis
Species:
B. albirostris
Binomial name
Bubalornis albirostris
(Vieillot, 1817)

The white-billed buffalo weaver (Bubalornis albirostris) is a resident breeding bird species in most of Africa south of the Sahara Desert.

This common weaver occurs in open country, especially cultivation and scrub. It is a communal breeder, building massive untidy stick nests in tree colonies, each of which may have several spherical woven nests within. Two to four eggs are laid.

The white-billed buffalo weaver is large and stocky, commonly measuring 23 to 24 centimeters[citation needed]. The adult is mainly black with white flecking on the back and wings. The conical bill is very thick, and appears more so because it is surmounted by a white frontal shield. The bill is white in breeding males.

The adult female and non-breeding male are similar, but the bill is black. Young birds are dark brown in plumage.

The white-billed buffalo weaver is a gregarious species which feeds on grain and insects. This is a noisy bird, especially in colonies, with a range of cackles and squeaks.

Illustration by Jean-Gabriel Prêtre

References

  • Birds of The Gambia by Barlow, Wacher and Disley, ISBN:1-873403-32-1

External links

Wikidata ☰ Q1305035 entry