Fire-fronted Bishop Euplectes diadematus Scientific name definitions
- LC Least Concern
- Names (18)
- Monotypic
Text last updated June 17, 2013
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Species names in all available languages
Language | Common name |
---|---|
Catalan | bisbe frontvermell |
Dutch | Diadeemwever |
English | Fire-fronted Bishop |
English (United States) | Fire-fronted Bishop |
French | Euplecte à diadème |
French (France) | Euplecte à diadème |
German | Diademweber |
Japanese | ベニヒタイオウゴンチョウ |
Norwegian | diadembisp |
Polish | wikłacz diademowy |
Russian | Диадемовый ткачик |
Serbian | Crvenočeli biskup |
Slovak | tkáčik diadémový |
Spanish | Obispo Diademado |
Spanish (Spain) | Obispo diademado |
Swedish | rödpannad eldvävare |
Turkish | Al Taçlı Piskopos |
Ukrainian | Вайдаг діадемовий |
Euplectes diadematus Fischer & Reichenow, 1878
Definitions
- EUPLECTES
- diademata / diadematum / diadematus
The Key to Scientific Names
Legend Overview
Field Identification
10 cm; mean 14 g. Small bishop with rather short tail. Male breeding has large red patch on forehead with some black in centre; rest of head black, mantle mottled yellow and black, lower back to uppertail-coverts yellow; tail dusky grey-brown, rectrices with buff margins, upperwing dusky grey-brown with pale yellow feather edges; chin, throat, breast and belly black, thighs whitish, vent and undertail-coverts yellow; iris dark brown; bill black; legs pale brown. Male non-breeding has forehead, crown, nape and mantle brown with dark central streaks on feathers, wings and tail brown with pale yellowish edges on remiges; lores, cheek and ear-coverts brown, faintly streaked, pale buffy supercilium; chin, throat and breast buffish, belly, thighs and undertail-coverts dull white; iris brown, bill brown, legs pale brown. Female is like non-breeding male. Juvenile undescribed.
Systematics History
Subspecies
Distribution
C, S & E Kenya, SE Somalia and NE Tanzania.
Habitat
Open grassland and cultivated areas below 1000 m; also bushy coastal dunes, rice fields and temporarily flooded areas.
Movement
Described as nomadic or migratory, with movements related to rainfall. At Tsavo, in S Kenya, common Dec–Feb but seldom seen at other times; during drought recorded at Dar-es-Salaam, in E Tanzania.
Diet and Foraging
Diet chiefly grass seeds such as those of Sporobolus and Echinochloa; in captivity, accepts seeds of Panicum, Paspalum, Chloris, Setaria and Hyparrhenium. During nesting, also takes termites (Isoptera) and spiders (Araneae). Forages in small groups; sometimes associates with other ploceids in flocks or at roosts.
Sounds and Vocal Behavior
Breeding
Breeds Aug–Sept in Somalia; May–Jun, also Dec–Jan following rain, in Kenya. Probably polygynous; territorial, nesting solitarily or in colonies with up to twelve males. Male in perched display bobs up and down with fluffed plumage, flicking wings. Nest a rounded structure, entrance near top under a small porch, very loosely woven with grass stems and leaf blades, attached within 0·5 m of ground to grass or herbs in grass clump; female may contribute to building, continues lining with softer grass during incubation. Clutch 2–5 eggs, pale blue, lightly blotched and spotted with black, average size of ten eggs 16·5 x 12·5 mm (Kenya); in captivity, incubation by female, period 10–12 days, nestling period 11–12 days. No other information.
Conservation Status
Not globally threatened. Locally common. Roosts containing more than 100 individuals in Somalia in Jul and Oct.