White-headed Buffalo-Weaver Dinemellia dinemelli Scientific name definitions

18 cm; 57–85 g. Large, mainly white buffalo-weaver. Nominate has white forehead, crown and nape, bare black skin around eye and between eye and base of bill; mantle and back dark brown , rump and uppertail-coverts orange-red; upperwing and tail dark brown, blacker on primaries, with narrow white margin on outer webs of greater coverts, secondaries, tertials and outermost pair of rectrices, rest of tail with just narrow whitish fringe at tip, small orange epaulet often concealed, white band c. 20 mm wide across base of primaries; throat and underparts white, dark brown thighs and orange-red undertail-coverts ; iris brown; bill black (may change seasonally between horn/brown and black); legs dark grey. Sexes alike. Juvenile has conspicuous gape wattle, and tail-coverts initially pale orange, rather than reddish. Race <em>boehmi</em> has mantle, back, wing and tail mainly black with reduced white fringes.

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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.

Dry bush and savanna thornveld, mainly below 1400 m; rarely grassland or riverine vegetation.

Feeds mainly on insects , also seeds and fruit; beetles (Coleoptera) and caterpillars (Lepidoptera) found in stomach contents. Forages primarily on ground, usually in groups of 3–6 individuals. Often associates with other species, e.g. Plocepasser and starlings (Sturnidae); in Somalia, associated particularly with Superb Starling (Lamprotornis superbus) and White-crowned Starling (Lamprotornis albicapillus). In Kenya, regularly joins mixed-species flocks in open woodland.

Song slow, drawn out, with piercing nasal calls and trills, phrases such as "tsu-weely-weely-wair", "tsu-weely-weely-tsair-tsu". Strident calls "skwieeeer", "errrrrrh" or "kiiyerr"; also a ringing "tew", repeated at intervals.

Season probably dependent on local rainfall: Aug–Sept and Dec in Sudan, Apr–Aug in Ethiopia, Feb–Jun and Sept in Somalia, May in Uganda, Feb–Mar, May, Jul and Nov in Kenya, and Dec in Tanzania. Monogamous. Observations of three adults feeding young in captivity, perhaps suggesting occasional co-operative breeding. Nest built by both sexes, a large oval structure c. 0·5 m long, outer shell of thorny sticks with short entrance tube opening downwards, interior a dome of dry grass stems lined with grass, leaves and feathers (inner grassy section built first, then thorny twigs added), usually 2–4 m above ground and resting on branch or suspended from end or underside of branch; several nests in same tree may belong to same pair; old reports of old nests of Plocepasser mahali being used; nests sometimes usurped by African Pygmy-falcons (Polihierax semitorquatus), and also used by Cut-throat Finches (Amadina fasciata). Clutch 3–4 eggs, greyish or pale blue, thickly blotched with olive-brown and grey-brown, markings sometimes forming cap at thick end, average 24·6 x 18 mm (Kenya); no data on incubation; chicks fed by both sexes, nestling period in captivity at least 14 days.

Not globally threatened (Least Concern). Common in most of range. Occurs primarily in arid regions with sparse human population, and present in protected areas throughout its range. Range may be extending N in Ethiopia, where recorded in 2015 at Mille River, C Afar (1 Jones, A.W. (2015). Range extension of the White-headed Buffalo Weaver Dinemellia dinemelli in central Afar, Ethiopia. Scopus. 35: 46–47. Close ).