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Yellow-legged Weaver Ploceus flavipes Scientific name definitions

Adrian J. F. Craig
Version: 1.0 — Published March 4, 2020
Text last updated January 1, 2010

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Originally Appeared in

HBW Alive

Field Identification

12 cm. Male is wholly black, except for blackish-brown belly and undertail-coverts; some gloss on crown, nape and mantle; iris whitish; bill black; legs dull yellow. Female is like male but less glossy, with undertail-coverts duller, iris yellow. Presumed juvenile is blackish-green above, greenish-grey below. One specimen has chocolate-brown upperparts, brown throat and belly; variation in plumage of specimens could represent non-breeding plumage, but considered unlikely.

Systematics History

Has been placed in genus Malimbus; in the past was sometimes placed in a monotypic genus, Rhinoploceus. Validity of taxon has been questioned, and suggested by some authors that it could represent occasional hybrids between all-black species such as P. nigerrimus and P. albinucha; former has long hindclaw, latter short hindclaw, and present species intermediate hindclaw, but legs yellow (not dull brownish as in other species); further research required. Monotypic.

Subspecies

Monotypic.

Distribution

Ituri Forest, in NE DRCongo.

Habitat

Canopy of lowland forest.

Movement

Presumed resident.

Diet and Foraging

Presumably insects; caterpillars (Lepidoptera) in stomach of one specimen.

Sounds and Vocal Behavior

No information.

Breeding

Two specimens in breeding condition in Sept. No other information.

Conservation Status

Conservation status on Birdlife VU Vulnerable

VULNERABLE. Restricted range species: present in Eastern Zaïre lowlands EBA. Rare and very poorly known. Has very small global range within which warfare and deforestation continue; population small and declining as a result of ongoing destruction and fragmentation of lowland forest. Fewer than ten specimens of this weaver are known to exist, the last dated 1959; two sight records from Okapi Faunal Reserve, one in 1990 and other in 1994.

Distribution of the Yellow-legged Weaver - Range Map
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  • Year-round
  • Migration
  • Breeding
  • Non-Breeding
Distribution of the Yellow-legged Weaver

eBird and Macaulay Library

Recommended Citation

Craig, A. J. F. (2020). Yellow-legged Weaver (Ploceus flavipes), 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.yelwea2.01
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