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Golden-backed Weaver Ploceus jacksoni Scientific name definitions

Adrian J. F. Craig
Version: 1.0 — Published March 4, 2020
Text last updated June 18, 2013

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Originally Appeared in

HBW Alive

Field Identification

15 cm; male 22–30 g, female 19–22. Male breeding has entire head to nape and throat black, sharply demarcated from chrome-yellow mantle, becoming greenish-washed or greenish streaked on back; rump chrome-yellow; upperwing dull brown, remiges with narrow yellow margins, wing-coverts with bright yellow edges and median coverts also with yellow tips; tail olive-green, rectrices with narrow yellow margins; black of hood extends into a bib on breast, breast otherwise chestnut-brown, flanks and belly chestnut-brown, centre of belly yellow with brown wash, thighs and undertail-coverts chrome-yellow; iris crimson-red; bill black; legs brown. Male non-breeding has forehead, crown and nape to back dull olive-brown with dark central streaks on mantle feathers, rump plain greenish-brown; wings brown, with yellowish or buffy edges on wing-coverts, tail olive-green, paler margins on rectrices; yellow supercilium; cheek and ear-coverts olive-brown, chin and throat yellowish-white, upper breast buff, lower breast, belly and undertail-coverts white with yellow wash, thighs and flanks buffy; dark brown upper mandible, pale brown lower mandible. Female breeding is like male non-breeding, but iris dark brown. Female non-breeding apparently lacks yellow wash on underparts, has upperparts duller, greyish, rather than greenish, upper mandible dark greyish, lower mandible light grey-brown. Juvenile resembles female, but buffier on underparts, bill paler brown.

Systematics History

May hybridize with P. castanops in Uganda. Monotypic.

Subspecies

Monotypic.

Distribution

S South Sudan, Uganda, W & S Kenya, N, C & E Tanzania and Burundi. Introduced in United Arab Emirates.

Habitat

Primarily in wetland areas, in swamps, ambatch (Aeschynomene elaphroxylon), reeds and papyrus (Cyperus papyrus); also along rivers, moving out into acacia (Acacia) scrub and woodland. To 1800 m.

Movement

Presumed resident; irruptive movements reported in response to heavy rainfall. Male in Kenya recovered 5·5 years later 28 km from ringing site.

Diet and Foraging

Seeds recorded; presumably also insects, as it uses prying action of bill.

Sounds and Vocal Behavior

Song complex, a rambling series of high-pitched hissing notes and low snoring sounds. Short song used during nest-advertisement display of male, long song in territorial encounters and when female enters a nest.

Breeding

Breeds Feb–Jun and Oct–Dec (peak of laying Apr–May) in Uganda, Mar–Jun in Kenya, and Sept and Nov–Jun in Tanzania. Polygynous. Colonial, often nesting alongside other weavers such as P. cucullatus, P. aurantius, P. melanocephalus or P. pelzelni. Nest a compact oval, with entrance below and lacking tunnel, woven from strips of grass or palm leaves, lined with grass seedheads and some feathers, usually over water in papyrus or reeds, sometimes in tree, ambatch or even maize (Zea mays) field; a tunnel artificially added to fresh nests was removed by the birds, but ignored on occupied nests. Clutch 2–3 eggs, blue with purplish-brown or dark red spots, often very fine and dense, average size 20·6 x 14·3 mm (Uganda). No other information.

Conservation Status

Conservation status on Birdlife LC Least Concern
Not globally threatened. Locally common. Outside natural range, has bred in United Arab Emirates since 1992, presumably as a result of accidental escape of captives.
Distribution of the Golden-backed Weaver - Range Map
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  • Year-round
  • Migration
  • Breeding
  • Non-Breeding
Distribution of the Golden-backed Weaver

eBird and Macaulay Library

Recommended Citation

Craig, A. J. F. (2020). Golden-backed Weaver (Ploceus jacksoni), 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.gobwea1.01
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