Diet and Foraging

The Scaly Weaver forages on the ground; hopping briskly, seldomly walking, feeding on fallen seeds on the ground. Its diet is primarily small seeds, particularly grass seeds, and seeds of millet or sorghum. It also feeds on termites, which are caught on the ground and in the air. This species drinks water regularly when it is available, but it can survive for extended periods without access to surface water.

The Scaly Weaver typically roosts communally in ball-shaped nests constructed of grass, sometimes as many as 12 birds in a nest. Communal roosting allows these birds to save substantial amounts of energy and is likely important for their survival, especially during cold winter nights in the Kalahari Desert. It is most active early in the morning, retreating to cooler sites such as trees or other elevated objects when the temperature rises.

Microhabitat for Foraging

The Scaly Weaver forages mostly on ground . It is attracted to sandy ground that has been disturbed by recent movements of large animals or people; even feeding inside fresh footprints as disturbance of the surface sand exposes seeds lying at lower depths (54 Cade, T. J. (1965). Survival of the Scaly-feathered Finch Sporopipes squamifrons without drinking water. Ostrich 36:131-132. Close ). Termites are caught on the ground and in the air (55 Skead, C. J. (1997). Life-History Notes on East Cape Bird Species, 1940–1990. Volume 2. Algoa Regional Services Council, Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Close ).

Food Capture and Consumption

It hops briskly (rarely walks), as it feeds on fallen seeds on the ground (2 Dean, W. R. J. (2005). Scaly-feathered Finch Sporopipes squamifrons. In Roberts Birds of Southern Africa. 7th edition (P. A. R. Hockey, W. R. J. Dean and P. G. Ryan, Editors), Trustees of the John Voelcker Bird Book Fund, Cape Town, South Africa. pp. 1005–1006. Close ).

Major Food Items

The Scaly Weaver's diet is primarily small seeds, particularly grass seeds, e.g., Aristida and Schmidtia spp. (2 Dean, W. R. J. (2005). Scaly-feathered Finch Sporopipes squamifrons. In Roberts Birds of Southern Africa. 7th edition (P. A. R. Hockey, W. R. J. Dean and P. G. Ryan, Editors), Trustees of the John Voelcker Bird Book Fund, Cape Town, South Africa. pp. 1005–1006. Close ), and seeds of millet (Pennisetum glaucum) or sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) (15 Tyler, S. J. (2001). Moult in Scalyfeathered Finches Sporopipes squamifrons in southeast Botswana. Afring News 30:56-59. Close ). It also feeds on termites (Isoptera) (2 Dean, W. R. J. (2005). Scaly-feathered Finch Sporopipes squamifrons. In Roberts Birds of Southern Africa. 7th edition (P. A. R. Hockey, W. R. J. Dean and P. G. Ryan, Editors), Trustees of the John Voelcker Bird Book Fund, Cape Town, South Africa. pp. 1005–1006. Close ).

Quantitative Analysis

Information needed, but one road-killed individual had 63 seeds (56 Dean, W. R. J. (1997). The distribution and biology of nomadic birds in the Karoo, South Africa. Journal of Biogeography 24(6):769–779. Close ).

Information needed.

Information needed.

The Scaly Weaver typically roosts communally in ball-shaped nests constructed of grass, sometimes as many as 12 birds in a nest (See Behavior: Social and Interspecific Behavior) (57 Maclean, G. L. (1993). Roberts' Birds of Southern Africa. John Voelcker Bird Book Fund, Cape Town, South Africa. Close , 2 Dean, W. R. J. (2005). Scaly-feathered Finch Sporopipes squamifrons. In Roberts Birds of Southern Africa. 7th edition (P. A. R. Hockey, W. R. J. Dean and P. G. Ryan, Editors), Trustees of the John Voelcker Bird Book Fund, Cape Town, South Africa. pp. 1005–1006. Close ). Lubbe and colleagues showed that communal roosting allows these birds to save substantial amounts of energy and is likely important for their survival, especially during cold winter nights in the Kalahari Desert, where night temperatures frequently drop below freezing and sometimes as low as -10 °C (58 Lubbe, N., Z. J. Czenze, M. J. Noakes, and A.E. McKechnie (2018). The energetic significance of communal roosting and insulated roost nests in a small arid-zone passerine. Ostrich 89(4):347-354. Close ). Their study also showed that energy savings increased with increasing group size (optimal for a group of 8 birds), and the benefits of communal roosting and the use of a well-insulated nest were additive when used simultaneously. As such, huddling in an enclosed, insulated nest during roosting is an important energy-saving and thermoregulatory behavior for the Scaly Weaver (58 Lubbe, N., Z. J. Czenze, M. J. Noakes, and A.E. McKechnie (2018). The energetic significance of communal roosting and insulated roost nests in a small arid-zone passerine. Ostrich 89(4):347-354. Close ). The Scaly Weaver occasionally roosts in groups of 3–4 birds in exposed sites such as a branch within a bush or tree. Although not as substantial as for communal roosting in an enclosed nest, an individual roosting in a cluster of 4 birds in an exposed site at 10 °C may spend up to 24% less energy compared with a single bird (58 Lubbe, N., Z. J. Czenze, M. J. Noakes, and A.E. McKechnie (2018). The energetic significance of communal roosting and insulated roost nests in a small arid-zone passerine. Ostrich 89(4):347-354. Close ). Communal roosting, whether in a nest or in the open, is an important thermoregulatory strategy of a small bird such as the Scaly Weaver, and confers significant energy savings to individuals, especially during cold winter nights.

The Scaly Weaver is most active early in the morning, retreating to cooler sites such as trees or other elevated objects when the temperature rises. Depending on the ambient temperature, it shows a preference for trees offering different degrees of shadiness. On cool days and in the early morning, the Scaly Weaver shows a preference for the less shady camelthorn trees (Vachellia erioloba), and avoids the dense shade offered by shepherd's trees (Boscia albitrunca). On hot days and during the hottest parts of the day, it switches its preference to shepherd's trees, avoiding trees that offer less shade (59 Martin, R. O., S. J. Cunningham, and P. A. R. Hockey (2015). Elevated temperatures drive finescale patterns of habitat use in a savanna bird community. Ostrich: Journal of African Ornithology 86:127–135. Close ).

The Scaly Weaver is one of the southern African species for which a small increase in the number of days per year on which there is a significant risk of lethal dehydration in some parts of its range (i.e., west-central Namibia) is anticipated (60 Conradie, S. R., S. M. Woodborne. S. J. Cunningham, and A. E. McKechnie (2019). Chronic, sublethal effects of high temperatures will cause severe declines in southern African arid-zone birds during the 21st century. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences U.S.A. 116:14065–14070. Close ). The maximum temperature tolerated by half of a sample of the Scaly Weaver was around 48°C, slightly lower than larger weavers tested in the same way (61 Whitfield, M. C., B. Smit, A. E. McKechnie, and B. O. Wolf (2015). Avian thermoregulation in the heat: scaling of heat tolerance and evaporative cooling capacity in three southern African arid-zone passerines. The Journal of Experimental Biology (2015) 218:1705–1714. Close ).

The Scaly Weaver drinks water regularly when it is available, but it can survive for extended periods without access to surface water. Some birds, at least, occur a considerable distance away from the nearest surface water, sometimes as much as 50 km (62 Roberts, A. (1935). Scientific results of the Vernay-Lang Kalahari Expedition, March to September, 1930: birds. Annals of the Transvaal Museum 16:1-185. Close , 63 Irwin, M. P. S. (1956). Notes on the drinking habits of birds in semi desertic Bechuanaland. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists’ Club 76(6):99–100. Close , 54 Cade, T. J. (1965). Survival of the Scaly-feathered Finch Sporopipes squamifrons without drinking water. Ostrich 36:131-132. Close ). These birds may utilize any source of surface water when available, e.g., both natural and artificial waterholes and puddles formed after rain or from leaking water pipes (54 Cade, T. J. (1965). Survival of the Scaly-feathered Finch Sporopipes squamifrons without drinking water. Ostrich 36:131-132. Close ).

In one study, wild-caught individuals were kept in captivity for up to 62 days without access to drinking water. After this time, during which their only intake consisted of air-dried seeds, mainly millet, these weavers maintained their mass near normal levels. Afterward, the birds were given access to water. During the next five days, their average consumption was 1.1 ml. per bird per day or roughly twice as much as their initial ad libitum consumption had been; and they gained an average of 0.65 grams per bird (54 Cade, T. J. (1965). Survival of the Scaly-feathered Finch Sporopipes squamifrons without drinking water. Ostrich 36:131-132. Close ).