Little Weaver Ploceus luteolus Scientific name definitions

12 cm; 11–15 g. Very small weaver. Male breeding has black face mask covering forehead, crown to just behind eye, cheek, ear-coverts, chin and throat, extending as bib onto breast; hindcrown and nape bright yellow, mantle and back dull yellow with dark central streaks on feathers, rump yellow; tail and upperwing dark olive-brown, remiges with pale yellow edges and wing-coverts with broader margins; neck side and underparts bright yellow; iris brown; bill black; legs blue-grey. Male non-breeding has forehead, crown and nape to back yellowish-green, dark central streaks on mantle and back feathers, rump yellower than rest of upperparts; tail and wings as on breeding male; pale buff supercilium, greenish cheek and ear-coverts; chin, throat, breast and belly washed with pale yellow, flanks and thighs buffy, undertail-coverts yellow; bill brown. Female is like non-breeding male, but wing feathers not so dark, underparts yellow when breeding, whitish in non-breeding plumage; iris dark brown; bill dark brown when breeding, light brown afterwards. Juvenile resembles female, but upperparts grey-brown, rather than greenish-yellow, pale lower mandible; captive-raised male first sang at 4 months, moulted into breeding plumage at 1 year.

S Mauritania, Senegal, Gambia, C & S Mali, Burkina Faso and N Ivory Coast E to N Cameroon, S Chad, Central African Republic, Sudan, South Sudan, W Ethiopia, Eritrea, NE DRCongo, Uganda, W Kenya and NW Tanzania.

Diet seeds and insects. Stomach contents included beetles (Coleoptera) and caterpillars (Lepidoptera). Forages usually in acacias and other small trees, searching foliage in manner of a warbler (Sylviidae); uses prying actions of the bill. In W Africa, also forages on ground with seed-eaters such as waxbills (Estrildidae). Generally in pairs and small groups.

Song introduced by plaintive musical tones, "sweetiswiswi" or "chip-wop-weep-wop-wop-weep-wip-wop-cheep", followed by chattering series of notes, described as quieter and more varied than song of e.g. P. cucullatus. Call note a soft "tsip"; shrill, squeaky alarm call.

Breeds in Jun–Oct in Mauritania and Gambia, May–Nov in Senegal, Aug–Oct in Mali (from Jul in S), Jul–Oct in Ghana, Aug in Togo, Jun–Oct in Burkina Faso, May–Sept in Niger, Jun–Oct in Nigeria, Aug–Nov in DRCongo, May and Aug–Oct in Sudan, Mar–Aug in Ethiopia, Mar–May and Aug–Sept in Uganda, and Feb, Apr and Sept in Kenya. Monogamous. Often solitary nester, returning to same site in successive years; rarely in colonies. Nest built by male, globular, with vertical entrance tube 5–30 cm in length, woven from fine grass stems, grass blades and vine tendrils, also strips torn from fronds of Borassus palm, lined with grass seedheads and other fine material, suspended 3–5·5 m above ground from thorny branch; construction takes 3–4 days, after which male may continue work on entrance tunnel; in Sudan in association with occupied wasp (Hymenoptera) nests, and in Gambia typically near hornet (Vespa) nests; two active nests in Ghana were taken over by Red-cheeked Cordon-bleus (Uraeginthus bengalus). Clutch 2–3 eggs, plain white, average size of nine eggs 18·4 x 13·1 mm (Nigeria); incubation by both sexes, period 12 days in captivity; chicks fed by both sexes, nestling period in captivity 18–20 days. No published information on breeding success. Annual survival of small sample of adults in Nigeria estimated at 50%.