Holub's Golden-Weaver Ploceus xanthops Scientific name definitions

17–18 cm; male 40–50 g, female 35–40 g. Male has golden-yellow head; upperparts and tail greenish-yellow to golden-olive, rectrices with yellow edges; upperwing dull brown with dull yellow margins; golden-yellow below, some tawny to orange wash on chin to upper breast; iris pale yellow; bill black ; legs pinkish-flesh. Female resembles male, but head has only forehead yellow, and yellow below is duller, often with no chestnut wash on chin and throat (one aberrant female from Zimbabwe had grey plumage with olive wash on upperparts, tinge of buff below, grey edgings on remiges and rectrices). Juvenile has upperparts dull olive-green, tail with yellowish margins, wings dark brown with greenish-buff margins, chin and throat yellowish, breast buffy brown, belly paler buff, iris dark brown, bill pale brown with darker base.

S Gabon, SW Congo S to W Angola, and S Uganda, SW Kenya, E & S DRCongo, Rwanda, Burundi and W Tanzania S to NE Namibia (Caprivi Strip), N Botswana (Okavango Basin), Zimbabwe, WC Mozambique, N & E South Africa (locally Limpopo S to KwaZulu-Natal) and W Swaziland.

Bushy areas with tall grass, on forest margins and along streamsides; generally at 1200–2300 m, but coastal in E South Africa and in W in Angola and PRCongo.

Probably sedentary. In S Africa, greatest distance moved was 10 km.

Diet invertebrates, fruit, seeds and nectar. Insects include beetle larvae (Coleoptera) and termites (Isoptera); fruit includes guavas (Psidium), figs (Ficus) and Rhus pyroides; grass seeds (Panicum maximum), seeds of exotic pine (Pinus patula); nectar of Ruttya and Erythrina; flower petals also eaten. Nestlings fed with grasshoppers (Orthoptera), praying mantis (Mantidae), tabanid fly (Tabanidae) and spiders (Araneae). Forages in forest canopy; extracts beetle larvae from pods of Burkea africana; catches termite alates both on ground and on the wing. Visits garden birdfeeders; dominated P. velatus at feeder in Botswana. Generally singly and in pairs.

Song a short chattering phrase followed by trill and squeaky notes, "chichi-chichi-chi-squirr ski-wee"; variations noted in different regions. Contact call a short "chirp".

Breeds Jan–Apr over much of range; as early as Sept in S Africa, Zambia and Malawi, and recorded in most months in E Africa, peak season Aug–Oct in Uganda; may be double-brooded. Monogamous. Often loose colony of two or three territorial males. Male, perched beside female, leans forward, with head and throat feathers ruffled, and sings; directs this "song stretch" display to female also elsewhere when the two meet again after separation. Nest built by male , female contributing lining, bulky kidney-shaped structure, with entrance below, often with seedheads protruding, woven from broad-bladed grass, lined with grass-heads, grass stems, sometimes pad of plant down and a few feathers, usually suspended by roof 2–2·5 m up from tall bush or reeds, often over water, rarely slung between reeds or supported at one side only; leaves stripped from vegetation surrounding nests; several nests built in territory, but only one occupied; old nests used for breeding by Brown Firefinch (Lagonosticta nitidula), White-collared Oliveback (Nesocharis ansorgei) and Zebra Waxbill (Amandava subflava). Clutch 1–3 eggs, most often 2 (Malawi), plain blue, white or pinkish, or evenly freckled with red and lilac, average size of 55 eggs 24·1 x 16·2 mm (S Africa); incubation 14–15 days, 14 days in captivity; chicks fed by both sexes, nestling period 19–22 days. Nest parasitism by Diederik Cuckoo (Chrysococcyx caprius) reported. In ringing studies in S Africa, individuals recaptured after 6 years.

Not globally threatened. Considered to be common to locally common in much of range; rare to scarce and local in PRCongo. Much less abundant than colonial species. Estimated population in Swaziland 4000 individuals; in Kruger National Park, in South Africa, only 150 birds. Very widespread in S half of Africa, and present in protected areas throughout its range.