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Black Bishop Euplectes gierowii Scientific name definitions

Adrian J. F. Craig
Version: 1.0 — Published March 4, 2020
Text last updated June 17, 2013

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Originally Appeared in

HBW Alive

Field Identification

15 cm; male 23–36 g, female 22–30 g. Short-tailed bishop. Male nominate race breeding has forehead, neck and back orange, rump and uppertail-coverts black; tail and upperwing black, all feathers edged buff in fresh plumage; lores, cheek, ear-coverts and chin black; broad orange patch on throat and upper breast joining orange of mantle; lower breast and belly black, vent ashy with broad black centres; iris dark brown; bill black; legs brown. Non-breeding male has crown, nape, mantle and back brown with heavy black central streaks on feathers, broad creamy supercilium extending well beyond eye, rump feathers brown with pale margins; wings and tail as in breeding plumage; chin and throat dull white, breast and flanks buff with dark spots (not streaks), belly, vent and undertail-coverts dull white, thighs buffy; iris dark brown; upper mandible dark brown, lower mandible yellowish-brown; legs brown. Female resembles non-breeding male, but central streaks on upperparts dark brown, not black, and wings and tail brown. Juvenile resembles female. Race ansorgei male breeding differs from nominate in having more extensive black on crown and throat, narrower orange collar on upper breast, lowermost underparts buff with broad dark streaks; friederichseni male has hindcrown and nape to back bright orange, rump buff with dark feather centres, broad orange band around breast, black lower breast and belly, buff thighs and undertail-coverts.

Systematics History

Editor's Note: This article requires further editing work to merge existing content into the appropriate Subspecies sections. Please bear with us while this update takes place.

Sometimes placed with E. aureus and E. hordeaceus in a separate genus, Groteiplectes. In genetic study (1), races ansorgei and friederichseni exhibited widest intraspecific divergence. Three subspecies recognized.

Subspecies

SUBSPECIES

Euplectes gierowii ansorgei Scientific name definitions

Euplectes gierowii ansorgei
E. g. ansorgei

Distribution

W, E and S Cameroon, S Central African Republic, N Congo, N and NE DRCongo, S and E South Sudan, W and SW Ethiopia, Uganda and W Kenya.
SUBSPECIES

Euplectes gierowii friederichseni Scientific name definitions

Euplectes gierowii friederichseni
E. g. friederichseni

Distribution

S Kenya and NC Tanzania.
SUBSPECIES

Euplectes gierowii gierowii Scientific name definitions

Euplectes gierowii gierowii
E. g. gierowii +1

Distribution

SW DRCongo and NW Angola.

Distribution

Editor's Note: Additional distribution information for this taxon can be found in the 'Subspecies' article above. In the future we will develop a range-wide distribution article.

Habitat

Tall grassland, in swampy or drier bushy areas, also scrub and sugar cane. In Kenya at 700–1600 m and in areas with more than 1000 mm annual rainfall, whereas in Tanzania found in drier country; to 1800 m in NE DRCongo, perhaps to 2000 m in Ethiopia. Often sympatric with E. hordeaceus in E Africa.

Movement

Presumed resident.

Diet and Foraging

Diet includes seeds and insects. Stomach contents consisted of grass seeds, winged ants (Formicidae) and alate termites (Isoptera). Forages mainly in pairs and small groups; joins mixed flocks in non-breeding season.

Sounds and Vocal Behavior

Song, in flight and from perch, a long buzzy note followed by series of shorter notes, "zeeee-za-za-za-za-za-za-za". High, sizzling calls reported.

Breeding

Season May–Aug in NE DRCongo, Apr–Oct and Dec in Uganda, May in Kenya, and Apr–Jun and Dec in Tanzania. Polygynous, male holding territory containing three or four nests. Nest oval, with large entrance high on one side, rather coarsely woven from grass, lined with grass seedheads; in Uganda 2 m above ground in elephant grass, attached to one vertical stalk and some leaf blades, one nest in Tanzania was 1 m above ground in fork of wood shrub. Clutch 2–4 eggs, bright blue, sometimes with fine black or red-brown spotting, size 20·6 x 15·3 mm. No other information.

Conservation Status

Conservation status on Birdlife LC Least Concern
Not globally threatened. Relatively poorly known species, with scattered populations. In most parts of range said to be uncommon to rare.
Distribution of the Black Bishop - Range Map
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  • Year-round
  • Migration
  • Breeding
  • Non-Breeding
Distribution of the Black Bishop

eBird and Macaulay Library

Recommended Citation

Craig, A. J. F. (2020). Black Bishop (Euplectes gierowii), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.blabis1.01
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