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Ploceidae is a family of small passerine birds, many of which are called weavers, weaverbirds, weaver finches, or bishops. These names come from the nests of intricately woven vegetation created by birds in this family. In most recent classifications, the Ploceidae are a clade that excludes some birds that have historically been placed in the family, such as some of the sparrows, but which includes the monotypic subfamily Amblyospizinae. The family is believed to have originated in the mid-Miocene.<ref name="des">Template:Cite journal</ref> All birds of the Ploceidae are native to the Old World, most in Africa south of the Sahara, though a few live in tropical areas of Asia. A few species have been introduced outside their native range.<ref name=HBW>Template:Cite book</ref>
Taxonomy and systematicsEdit
The family Ploceidae was introduced (as Ploceïdes) by Swedish zoologist Carl Jakob Sundevall in 1836.<ref>Template:Cite periodical</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Phylogenetic studies have shown that the family is sister to a clade containing the families Viduidae and Estrildidae<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Their common ancestor lived in the middle Miocene around 18 million years ago.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
A 2017 molecular phylogenetic study by Thilina de Silva and collaborators, as well as an expanded study by the same group published in 2019 have indicated that the genus Ploceus as currently defined is polyphyletic.<ref name=silva2017>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name=silva2019>Template:Cite journal</ref> A cladogram based on these results is shown below.<ref name=silva2019/> Template:Clade
GeneraEdit
The family includes 15 genera with a total of 122 species.<ref name=ioc>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> For more detail, see list of Ploceidae species.
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DescriptionEdit
The males of many species in this family are brightly coloured, usually in red or yellow and black. Some species show variation in colour only in the breeding season. These are seed-eating birds with rounded conical bills.
Distribution and habitatEdit
The weaverbird colonies may be found close to bodies of water.
Behaviour and ecologyEdit
Weavers are named for their elaborately woven nests. The nests vary in size, shape, material used, and construction techniques from species to species. Materials used for building nests include fine leaf fibers, grass, and twigs. Many species weave very fine nests using thin strands of leaf fiber, though some, like the buffalo-weavers, form massive untidy stick nests in their colonies, which may have spherical woven nests within. The sociable weavers of Africa build apartment-house nests, in which 100 to 300 pairs have separate flask-shaped chambers entered by tubes at the bottom. The sparrow weavers live in family units that employ cooperative breeding.<ref name="lewis">Template:Cite journal</ref> Most species weave nests that have narrow entrances, facing downward.
Many weaver species are gregarious and breed colonially.<ref name="HBW"/> The birds build their nests together for protection, often several to a branch. Usually, the male birds weave the nests and use them as a form of display to lure prospective females.
Relationship to humansEdit
They sometimes cause crop damage, notably the red-billed quelea, reputed to be the world's most numerous bird.<ref>Fry, C.H. & Keith, S. (2004) The birds of Africa vol. VII. Christopher Helm, London</ref><ref>Template:Cite iucn</ref>
GalleryEdit
- Under Construction - Weaver Bird.jpg
A nest in the early stages of construction
- Weaverbirds at West Bengal.jpg
Weaverbirds at West Bengal
- Sporopipes squamifrons 1838.jpg
Adult Sporopipes at its spherical grass nest, placed in a shrub
- Nids de Plocepasser mahali (Namibie) (3).jpg
Plocepasser nest in Namibia, for year-round occupation.<ref name="lewis"/>
- 2010-09-25 09-03-47 Namibia Hardap Isabis.jpg
Communal Philetairus nests in central Namibia
- Pseudonigrita-arnaudi-Nest.JPG
Pseudonigrita nest in Kenya, with entrance below
- Black-breasted Weaver Ploceus benghalensis by Dr. Raju Kasambe 03.jpg
Black-breasted weaver nest suspended from grass, India
- Ploceidae.jpg
A baya weaver on his unfinished nest, northern India
- Nests in Palmyra Palm tree.jpg
Nests of a baya weaver colony suspended from a palm tree, India
- Euplectes orix -Pretoria, South Africa -male weaving nest-8 (1).jpg
Red bishop constructing a nest in reeds, South Africa
- Weaver bird nests at Ifaty (3445328641).jpg
Nests of a colony of Sakalava weavers, Madagascar
- GambiaGeorgeTown043 (12249665914).jpg
Spherical village weaver nests suspended from a palm tree, West Africa
- Tisserin Etosha.jpg
A southern masked weaver building his nest, Namibia
- ASC Leiden - van de Bruinhorst Collection - Somaliland 2019 - 4530 - A detail of the nest of weaver birds hanging from a tree.jpg
Hanging nest, Hargeysa, Somaliland, July 2019.
ReferencesEdit
Further readingEdit
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