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Passeriformes
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Ploceidae
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Bates's Weaver Ploceus batesi Scientific name definitions

Adrian J. F. Craig and Christopher J. Sharpe
Version: 1.0 — Published March 4, 2020
Text last updated April 4, 2015

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Originally Appeared in

HBW Alive

Field Identification

13–14 cm. Male has most of head bright chestnut-brown, lores black; sharp line of yellow-fringed feathers on nape (narrow hindcollar); olive-green lower nape, upperparts and tail; upperwing olive-green, paler edges on primaries; chin with chestnut central patch, rest of chin and throat black, sharply demarcated from bright yellow breast, belly, thighs and under­tail-coverts; flanks yellow with greenish wash; iris dark brown; bill black; legs blue-grey. Female is like male, except that forehead, crown, cheek and ear-coverts are black (not chestnut), and chin and throat yellow like breast (not black). Juvenile resembles female, but head pale olive-green, not black, bill pale horn-brown.

Systematics History

Monotypic.

Subspecies

Monotypic.

Distribution

SW & S Cameroon (from Limbe E to Moloundou).

Habitat

Lowland rainforest; recorded up to 900 m.

Movement

No information; presumed resident.

Diet and Foraging

Insects recorded. Forages singly, in pairs, and once in mixed-species flock of insectivorous birds. Moves in zigzag manner on tree trunks; reminiscent of P. angolensis.

Sounds and Vocal Behavior

No published information; appears to be usually silent.

Breeding

Juvenile in Mar. No other information.

Conservation Status

Conservation status on Birdlife EN Endangered

ENDANGERED. Restricted range species: present in Cameroon and Gabon Lowlands EBA. Rare. Estimated global population fewer than 1000 individuals; probably declining owing to loss and/or modification of habitat. Known from only nine sites in a narrow belt from Limbe (at foot of Mt Cameroon) E to Moloundou (near border with Congo), and recorded irregularly. Very few records in recent years. Observed twice near Dja Game Reserve (at Somalomo, on NW boundary, in 1995; at Shwani, 12 km from Somalomo, in 1996); two records from Mt Kupe in 1990 but none since, despite intensive searches; not located at all during surveys undertaken in 1998–2001 in W & SE Cameroon. Reasons for this species' apparent rarity are unclear. If approved, a large palm oil plantation would significantly reduce suitable habitat in SW Cameroon BirdLife International (2015) Species factsheet: Ploceus batesi. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 04/04/2015. . Range falls within Dja Faunal Reserve (IUCN Cat. IV; 5260 km2), Douala Edéa Wildlife Reserve (IUCN Cat. IV; 1600 km2) and Bakossi National Park (IUCN Cat. II; 293·2 km2).

Distribution of the Bates's Weaver - Range Map
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  • Year-round
  • Migration
  • Breeding
  • Non-Breeding
Distribution of the Bates's Weaver

eBird and Macaulay Library

Recommended Citation

Craig, A. J. F. and C. J. Sharpe (2020). Bates's Weaver (Ploceus batesi), 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.batwea1.01
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