Ploceus spekei
Photos taken by KaranS.Raghwa at Ngorongoro crater, Arusha, Tanzania. Click to enlarge!
Speke’s Weaver (Ploceus spekei) is an East African songbird, found in northern and eastern Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya (mostly the central highlands), and northeastern Tanzania. It inhabits savanna, bush, agricultural land, and towns.
This bird was named in honor of John Speke. an officer in the British Indian Army who made three exploratory expeditions to Africa and who is most associated with the search for the source of the Nile and the discovery and naming of Lake Victoria.
Unlike many weavers, Speke’s Weaver has the same plumage all year. The adult male is yellow with black throat (edged rusty), face, and bill, and variable black mottling on the back. The adult female’s upperparts are dull olive-gray with dusky brown streaks; the underparts are pale yellow, whiter on the belly and grayer on the flanks. The juvenile is similar but duller.
This species nests in colonies or occasionally singly. The nest, often woven in an acacia — a thorntree — is spherical with a short entrance tube opening sideways or downward. Many grass stems project sloppily, sometimes obscuring the shape. Typical clutches comprise four eggs, which are unmarked deep blue, somewhat pointed at both ends, about 1 inch long and ½ inch wide.
H/t Project Noah
~Eowyn
