Langbahn Team – Weltmeisterschaft

White-billed buffalo weaver

White-billed buffalo weaver
Scientific classification Edit this classification
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

  1. ^ BirdLife International (2018). "Bubalornis albirostris". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2018: e.T22718662A131990066. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T22718662A131990066.en. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  • Birds of The Gambia by Barlow, Wacher and Disley, ISBN 1-873403-32-1
  • Media related to Bubalornis albirostris at Wikimedia Commons
  • Data related to White-billed buffalo weaver at Wikispecies