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Heuglin's Masked-Weaver Ploceus heuglini 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

13 cm; 21–28·5 g. Male breeding has golden-yellow forehead and crown, greenish-yellow nape; mantle and back olive-green with faint central streaks on feathers, rump greenish yellow; tail olive-green, rectrices with narrow yellow margins; upper­wing olive-green, narrow yellow outer margins on remiges, broader yellow margins and yellow tips on wing-coverts; lores, ear-coverts, chin and throat black; breast yellow, chestnut-brown wash at edges of black mask (which ends in a point on centre of breast), flanks, belly, thighs and undertail-coverts yellow; iris pale yellow; bill black; legs brown. Male non-breeding has forehead, crown and nape to back greenish, rump greenish-yellow, wings and tail as in breeding plumage; lores, cheek and ear-coverts greenish, underparts yellow; bill brown, darker on upper mandible. Female breeding has forehead, crown and nape to back dull olive-green, faint dark streaks on mantle feathers, rump paler green, tail dark olive-green; wings dark olive-green, narrow yellow edges on remiges, broader yellow margins on wing-coverts; lores, cheek and ear-coverts greenish-brown, pale yellow supercilium; chin and throat pale yellow, breast pale yellow with buffy wash, flanks buffy, belly grey, thighs and undertail-coverts yellowish; iris pale yellowish; upper mandible dark brown, lower mandible light brown. Female non-breeding is duller above, has paler underparts with ochre wash on breast; bill pale brown. Juvenile resembles non-breeding female, except for buffy edges of remiges and wing-coverts.

Systematics History

Monotypic.

Subspecies

Monotypic.

Distribution

S Senegal, Gambia, S Mali, Ivory Coast and S Burkina Faso E to SW Niger, N Nigeria, N Cameroon, S Chad and N Central African Republic, also SW South Sudan, NE DRCongo, and W & C Uganda E to extreme W Kenya.

Habitat

Savanna woodland, coastal thickets, secondary scrubland and around farms and villages; generally dry, tall woodland areas. To 1800 m.

Movement

Moves away from breeding areas after nesting. In Nigeria, movements apparently related to regional rainfall patterns; seasonal movements reported also in Benin and in DRCongo.

Diet and Foraging

Diet apparently predominantly arthropods, including spiders (Araneae), caterpillars (Lepidoptera), beetles (Coleoptera), dragonflies (Odonata), grasshoppers (Orthoptera); also fruits, and seeds of Pennisetum grass. Diet at Lamto, in Ivory Coast, estimated as 70% arthropods, 10% fruit and 20% seeds by weight. Observed while examining leaves and flowers, apparently searching for insects. Once recorded in mixed-species flock foraging in woodland in Ghana.

Sounds and Vocal Behavior

Song described as a long phrase of swizzling sounds, chatters and rattles, such as "chukakakakaka-kew-kew-kew-kwee-kwee-kway-kway-jarrrrrrrr-chatatatatatat-turrrrrr" and other variations; or simple, monotonous "swi zhwee zhwee zhwee zhwee zhwee". Female also said to sing. Contact call a soft "chaar", also grating "chuk".

Breeding

Breeds Aug in Senegal, Jul and Sept–Oct in Mali, Mar–Jul in Ghana, Aug–Sept in Togo, May–Sept in Benin, May–Aug and Jul–Oct at different sites in Nigeria, Aug–Sept in Sudan, Jan–Mar in NE DRCongo, and Jun and Feb in Uganda. Polygynous. Colonial or solitary nester, typically in groups of up to 15 nests; same sites used annually, seldom near water; may form mixed colonies with P. vitellinus and P. cucullatus in W Africa. Male displays by quivering wings and tail, or beating wings, while hanging below nest. Nest kidney-shaped, with tunnel up to 20 cm long extending from entrance, coarsely woven by male from strips of grass or grass stems, usually suspended at two points, lined with downy flowerheads of grasses, placed in tree, or often attached to telephone line (each nest woven to the wire throughout its width); one group of nests overhung entrance of busy rest house in Nigeria, and some also attached to base of nest of Red-necked Buzzard (Buteo auguralis), Crowned Eagle (Stephanoaetus coronatus) or White-backed Vulture (Gyps africanus) or of Marabou (Leptoptilus crumenifer) or Abdim's Stork (Ciconia abdimii) nests in both W & E Africa; association with stinging or biting insects noted at sites in several W African countries, and in Sudan insect species included mud wasps (Megachile), paper wasps (Polistes fastidiosus, Ropalidia cincta), bees (Apis) and red weaver ant (Oecophylla smaragdina); unoccupied nests taken over by Cut-throat Finch (Amadina fasciata) and African Silverbill (Euodice cantans), and active nest in Ghana taken over by Red-cheeked Cordon-bleu (Uraeginthus bengalus). Clutch 2–4 eggs (average 2·2 in Nigeria), plain turquoise-blue, or pale blue with very fine brown spots, average size of 30 eggs 20·9 x 14·6 mm (Nigeria); incubation by female, period 12–13 days; chicks fed by female alone, nestling period 14–18 days. Some nests parasitized by Diederik Cuckoo (Chrysococcyx caprius) in Mali. At a colony in Nigeria, 45% of eggs produced fledglings.

Conservation Status

Conservation status on Birdlife LC Least Concern
Not globally threatened. Locally common, although patchy in distribution. On Lamto savanna, in Ivory Coast, density of 4 pairs/50 ha in dry season and 7 pairs/50 ha in wet season. Unconfirmed sight records from Liberia.
Distribution of the Heuglin's Masked-Weaver - Range Map
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  • Year-round
  • Migration
  • Breeding
  • Non-Breeding
Distribution of the Heuglin's Masked-Weaver

eBird and Macaulay Library

Recommended Citation

Craig, A. J. F. (2020). Heuglin's Masked-Weaver (Ploceus heuglini), 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.hemwea1.01
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