Siedelweber

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Siedelweber
Settled weaver (Philetairus socius) in Tswalu Kalahari Reserve, South Africa

Settled weaver ( Philetairus socius ) in Tswalu Kalahari Reserve, South Africa

Systematics
Order : Passerines (Passeriformes)
Subordination : Songbirds (passeri)
Family : Weaver birds (Ploceidae)
Subfamily : Ploceinae
Genre : Philetairus
Type : Siedelweber
Scientific name of the  genus
Philetairus
A. Smith , 1837
Scientific name of the  species
Philetairus socius
( Latham , 1790)
Subspecies
  • Philetairus socius eremnus
  • Philetairus socius geminus
  • Philetairus socius lepidus
  • Philetairus socius socius
  • Philetairus socius xericus

The settlement weaver ( Philetairus socius ), also known as the settlement sparrow , is the only species of the genus Philetairus within the family of weaver birds (Ploceidae).

Appearance

Siedelweber are sparrow-like, up to 14 cm large weaver birds. Her chest is light beige with black spots on the flanks, the beige-brown wings appear to be scaled by the light feather edges. They have a black spot around their blue-gray beak; the upper head is dark brown.

The song of the settler weaver is a "Tschipp-Tschipp", his alarm call is a hard "tip tip".

distribution

Settled weaver nests in the Kalahari

The distribution of the settler weaver is limited to central Namibia and the central Kalahari ( northern Cape Province and southern Botswana ).

Way of life

Settled weaver's nest with steppe monitor ( Varanus exanthematicus )

Settlement weavers are lively and vocal colony breeders who build their community nests out of grass in trees and on telephone poles. Telephone poles and the smooth bark of the quiver trees offer protection from snakes. Some birds start building their nests by building the roof on a sturdy branch. Then the couples participating in the colony build their individual nests with the entrances facing down. The nests are used for years and get bigger over time. Often the branches break under the weight of the nest and the whole nest or parts of it fall to the ground. The nests reach over 4 m in width with well over 100 nests. Individual, uninhabited nests are also used by other weavers, beautiful finches , small parrots and pygmy falcons .

literature

  • T. Barlow and W. Wisniewski: Kosmos Nature Travel Guide - Southern Africa. Franckh-Kosmos 1998, ISBN 3-440-07665-2 .

Web links

Commons : Siedelweber ( Philetairus socius )  - Collection of images, videos and audio files