By Bernard Dupont, CC By-SA 2.0
Etymology: Blunt Finch
First Described By: Vigors, 1831
Classification: Dinosauromorpha, Dinosauriformes, Dracohors, Dinosauria, Saurischia, Eusaurischia, Theropoda, Neotheropoda, Averostra, Tetanurae, Orionides, Avetheropoda, Coelurosauria, Tyrannoraptora, Maniraptoromorpha, Maniraptoriformes, Maniraptora, Pennaraptora, Paraves, Eumaniraptora, Averaptora, Avialae, Euavialae, Avebrevicauda, Pygostaylia, Ornithothoraces, Euornithes, Ornithuromorpha, Ornithurae, Neornithes, Neognathae, Neoaves, Inopinaves, Telluraves, Australaves, Eufalconimorphae, Psittacopasserae, Passeriformes, Eupasseres, Passeri, Euoscines, Passerides, Core Passerides, Passerida, Estrild Clade, Ploceidae
Status: Extant, Least Concern
Time and Place: Within the last 10,000 years, in the Holocene of the Quaternary
These birds are found in wetlands and evergreen forest patches in central and southern Africa
Physical Description: These are medium-sized songbirds, ranging up to 18 centimeters with the males heavier than the females. These birds are very dark and distinctive in color, and the males are hard to mix up with other birds! They have thick, wide beaks for cracking open seeds. They have short tails and ovular bodies. The males have white patches on their foreheads and little white spots on their wings, which are black; the tails are also black. Many males have brown – even light brown – heads; some have brown bellies and brown and black striped bellies; some grey bellies; and some brown and black backs. The females tend to have brown backs with white and mottled-brown striped bellies. Juveniles resemble the females, but instead of having grey beaks they tend to have yellowish beaks.
Diet: Thick-Billed Weavers use those nominal beaks to crack open large seeds, dig into soft fruits, and break open insects – they will remove the skin of things they eat to get into it, and smash berries in their beaks.
By JMK, CC BY-SA 3.0
Behavior: These weavers will mainly forage on the ground or in the canopy of the forest, forming small flocks during the non-breeding season. During the breeding season, males will forage with their mates, but they become very territorial at this point, not allowing other groups of mates to join them. They tend to call back and forth with clicking, trilling notes, and will contact each other with louder “chucks”. They do not tend to migrate, but only move back and forth over a small local range while foraging. Very few move more than 50 kilometers from where they hatched in their entire lifetimes.
Breeding occurs throughout the year, varying somewhat from location to location. The male will mate with and maintain a group of up to six pairings; though usually only three of the females build nests within the territory (and sometimes monogamy happens in a breeding season). These territories are in small, loosely associated colonies, though the territory around the nest is defended. Males will display for females by flapping slowly around her while the female approaches; he will then rotate his wings, displaying the white patches, jerking his tail, and singing to attract her. The nests are built by the male out of strips of grass, balms, and other plants, gathered into an ovular shape, usually in some sort of bridge-branch or close to the ground, where the roofed nest is tucked away near water. Usually three eggs are laid and incubated by the female for two weeks. Both parents will feed the young and take care of them for three weeks; the young are still dependent on the adults for a little while after that before striking out on their own.
By Bernard Dupont, CC By-SA 2.0
Ecosystem: Thick-Billed Weavers live near water, in well-wooded areas; they tend to breed in wetlands, and stick to edges of evergreen forests and the forest canopy far from water during the non-breeding season. It will roost in tall grass and reeds, and can be found in very high elevations. The nests of these birds are hunted by Crows and Coucals, as well as Nile Monitors.
Other: Thick-Billed Weavers are, thankfully, very abundant in its range, with thousands of individuals known in multiple locations, even in urban areas near artificial wetlands.
~ By Meig Dickson
Sources under the Cut
A Dinosaur A Day 