Royal weaver

Royal weaver
	Royal weaver ( Ploceus aurantius ), male in breeding dress
Systematics
Order :	Passerines (Passeriformes)
Subordination :	Songbirds (passeri)
Family :	Weaver birds (Ploceidae)
Subfamily :	Ploceinae
Genre :	Ploceus
Type :	Royal weaver
Scientific name
	Ploceus aurantius
	( Vieillot , 1805)

The king weaver ( Ploceus aurantius , syn. Malimbus aurantius ) belongs within the family of weaver birds (Ploceidae) to the genus of the bunting weaver (Ploceus).

The Latin additional species comes from the Latin aurantius , orange .

The bird is found in Africa in Benin , Gabon , Ghana and Uganda .

The distribution area includes mangroves , thickets in lagoons on the coast and along larger rivers, in the vicinity of lakes and farmland up to 200 m height.

features

The species is 14 cm tall and weighs between 21 and 29 g. The male has orange on the head, chest and underside, the iris is gray, diamond-shaped due to a small section of darker Irish skin. The bill is pink to white with a dark edge along the top of the upper bill and a narrow black rein. The top is olive green, the rump orange to yellow, the tail olive brown. Females and juveniles are monochrome greenish on the top and whitish on the underside.

Geographic variation

The following subspecies are recognized:

P. a. aurantius ( Vieillot , 1808), nominate form - Sierra Leone east along the coast to south-east Ghana, Togo , Benin , Nigeria , Cameroon , Equatorial Guinea , Gabon, South of the Central African Republic , Republic of the Congo , Democratic Republic of the Congo and northern Angola
P. a. rex Neumann , 1908 - Uganda, extreme west of Kenya and northwest of Tanzania around Lake Victoria

voice

The male's song is described as a mixture of smooth tones, sounding quite musical without the sharp elements of the other weaver birds.

Way of life

The diet consists mainly of fruits , pulp and seeds, but also insects .

The breeding season is between October and April in Liberia, between June and July in Ghana and Togo, in February, June, September and November to December in Nigeria and between October and March in Ghana.

King weavers are probably polygynous and breed individually or in colonies with up to several hundred nests. The male builds the nest, the clutch consists of 2 pale colored, lightly spotted eggs that are hatched by the female.

Hazardous situation

The stock is not considered to be at risk ( least concern ).

literature

LP Vieillot: De Malimbes. Le Malimbe Orangé. In: Histoire naturelle des plus beaux oiseaux chanteurs de la zone torride. Dufour, Paris 1805, p. 73, Biodiversity Library

Web links

Commons : Königsweber - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Videos, photos and sound recordings of Ploceus aurantius in the Internet Bird Collection
Weaver Watch

Individual evidence

↑ Königsweber , in Avibase - The World Bird Database
^ JA Jobling: A Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. Oxford University Press. 1991. ISBN 0-19-854634-3 .
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Handbook of the Birds of the World
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d T. Stevenson, J. Fanshawe: Birds of East Africa. Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi. Princeton University Press, 2002, ISBN 978-0-691-12665-4 .
↑ Old World sparrows, snowfinches, weavers
↑ Redlist

[avibase-1] Königsweber , in Avibase - The World Bird Database

[2] JA Jobling: A Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. Oxford University Press. 1991. ISBN 0-19-854634-3 .

[HBW-3] Handbook of the Birds of the World

[Stevenson-4] T. Stevenson, J. Fanshawe: Birds of East Africa. Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi. Princeton University Press, 2002, ISBN 978-0-691-12665-4 .

[5] Old World sparrows, snowfinches, weavers

[6] Redlist