Black-necked Weaver Ploceus nigricollis Scientific name definitions

The two subspecies of the Black-necked Weaver occur across a large area of the central third of Africa, south of the Sahel, and north of the Zambezi system, although the species’ distribution appears to be distinctly patchy in many areas. It is found from Cameroon south to Angola, east to coastal Kenya and Tanzania, and north to southern Somalia, southwest Ethiopia, and southern South Sudan. Throughout this range, this weaver is typically a fairly common bird of wooded country, ranging from savanna woodland, semi-evergreen forest and gallery forest, to farmbush, coastal thickets, well-wooded gardens, plantations, cocoa and coffee forest, and locally in mangroves. Unlike many species of Ploceidae, Black-necked Weaver is not as social when breeding as many of its congenerics, as it usually nests solitarily, only occasionally in small and not densely packed colonies, or with other weavers. This is a moderately distinctive ploceid; mainly black or very dark brown above and bright yellow below. The male has a deep golden-yellow head with a black stripe through the pale or reddish eye, and a black nape and bib, whereas females have a prominent yellow supercilium, a longer eyestripe, and no throat patch. This species formerly included Olive-naped Weaver (Ploceus brachypterus) as a subspecies, but fairly pronounced morphological differences between them have lead to this being treated as separate species.