Kenya, Weaver females (1 Viewer)

[JayFeatherPL]

Kenya, January 2025
2 first photos: Penety Resort, near Amboseli NP
The others: Amboseli NP
There are only two species matching: Taveta Weaver (Ploceus castaneiceps) and Golden-backed Weaver (Ploceus jacksoni). In Kenya, there's one more weaver female with bicoloured bill: Golden Palm Weaver (Ploceus bojeri), but it doesn't match because of the very faint streaks on the back.
So is this one of these two? Perhaps, other female weaver might have bicoloured bill, too?
I'm not sure if every bird is the same species: 1-2 is one individual, and the rest was a small flock in one place. The last bird (no 10) is probably another species (pale eye?).

 

[MacNara]

I am not any kind of expert, and due to Corona, it's been years since I looked at African birds closely. But since no-one else has replied, here are a couple of comments.

I can't see any Taveta Weavers here - they are much more orangey than anything here.

I would go for Little Weaver for your first few photos - on bill size and jizz as well as colour. But if it is definitely not in Amboseli, then I don't know.

And I wonder if photo 8 might be Yellow-fronted Canary and not a weaver at all.

 

[JayFeatherPL]

I am not any kind of expert, and due to Corona, it's been years since I looked at African birds closely. But since no-one else has replied, here are a couple of comments.

I can't see any Taveta Weavers here - they are much more orangey than anything here.

I would go for Little Weaver for your first few photos - on bill size and jizz as well as colour. But if it is definitely not in Amboseli, then I don't know.

And I wonder if photo 8 might be Yellow-fronted Canary and not a weaver at all.

Thanks. But I've got a couple of questions.

My second guess was Golden-backed Weaver. What do you think about it?

Little Weaver shows all dark bill in my guide, while my birds show bicoloured bills. Is it possible for Little Weaver females to have bicoloured bills?

Regarding the potential Yellow-fronted Canary...I don't know, but whenever I look at photo no 3, I just don't see it. The bird has neither supercilium nor eyestripe, which are typical of Canaries. The bill seems too slim for me and most of all: there's no malar stripe, which would be black in Yellow-fronted Canary...

 

[THE_FERN]

I am not any kind of expert, and due to Corona, it's been years since I looked at African birds closely. But since no-one else has replied, here are a couple of comments.

I can't see any Taveta Weavers here - they are much more orangey than anything here.

I would go for Little Weaver for your first few photos - on bill size and jizz as well as colour. But if it is definitely not in Amboseli, then I don't know.

And I wonder if photo 8 might be Yellow-fronted Canary and not a weaver at all.

Macauley images show female Taveta are much yellower, not orange. Some of the OP images are plausibly this: 8 is an excellent candidate (not gone back to review all)

 

[JayFeatherPL]

Macauley images show female Taveta are much yellower, not orange. Some of the OP images are plausibly this: 8 is an excellent candidate (not gone back to review all)

Thank you. Is every bird here a Taveta Weaver?

 

[MacNara]

As I said, it's been a while. Anyway, here are two birds that I took to be Taveta Weaver from Amboseli fifteen years ago showing the orange tones I mentioned. Maybe I was mistaken? I was a complete beginner then. And not all that further advanced now!

One has an all-black bill; one a paler lower mandible.

I still think the bill of the OP's birds, especially in the first two photos, is the wrong shape for Taveta.

But I'm happy to be corrected.

 

[THE_FERN]

As I said, it's been a while. Anyway, here are two birds that I took to be Taveta Weaver from Amboseli fifteen years ago showing the orange tones I mentioned. Maybe I was mistaken? I was a complete beginner then. And not all that further advanced now!

One has an all-black bill; one a paler lower mandible.

I still think the bill of the OP's birds, especially in the first two photos, is the wrong shape for Taveta.

But I'm happy to be corrected.

View attachment 1629837View attachment 1629838View attachment 1629839

Please check the Macauley images for this species. afaik, all here (your images) are males, or at least in breeding plumage. The headline ebird images (a subset of those in Macauley, and usually the same as the "headline" birds of the world images; are also the Merlin pack images) show a female but a particularly greenish one. In contrast, some others look +/- identical to the OP post.

Here is the headline female image. It looks more greenish than the OP but shows the bicoloured bill:

ML101637371 - Taveta Golden-Weaver - Macaulay Library

Macaulay Library ML101637371; © Mike Grant; Arusha, Tanzania

macaulaylibrary.org

[don't know why they chose this as a headline image: very poorly lit]

And here is one from the remaining Macauley library which looks very much like the "canary" (image 8):

ML370204531 - Taveta Golden-Weaver - Macaulay Library

Macaulay Library ML370204531; © Diane Drobka; Tanga, Tanzania

macaulaylibrary.org

Roughly 5% of Macauley african images are wrongly identified. However, the similarity to others, inc. the headline pic, and the lack of other suitable candidates—it's a distinctive looking species—mean I don't think it's the case here.

As I noted, I've not been back through the other images to check if there are other taveta golden weavers. But 8 is clearly one imho.

 

[JayFeatherPL]

Please check the Macauley images for this species. afaik, all here (your images) are males, or at least in breeding plumage. The headline ebird images (a subset of those in Macauley, and usually the same as the "headline" birds of the world images; are also the Merlin pack images) show a female but a particularly greenish one. In contrast, some others look +/- identical to the OP post.

Here is the headline female image. It looks more greenish than the OP but shows the bicoloured bill:

ML101637371 - Taveta Golden-Weaver - Macaulay Library

Macaulay Library ML101637371; © Mike Grant; Arusha, Tanzania

macaulaylibrary.org

[don't know why they chose this as a headline image: very poorly lit]

And here is one from the remaining Macauley library which looks very much like the "canary" (image 8):

ML370204531 - Taveta Golden-Weaver - Macaulay Library

Macaulay Library ML370204531; © Diane Drobka; Tanga, Tanzania

macaulaylibrary.org

Roughly 5% of Macauley african images are wrongly identified. However, the similarity to others, inc. the headline pic, and the lack of other suitable candidates—it's a distinctive looking species—mean I don't think it's the case here.

As I noted, I've not been back through the other images to check if there are other taveta golden weavers. But 8 is clearly one imho.

Would you like to check if the other weavers are also Taveta? I can see you know African birds pretty well...

 

[JayFeatherPL]

I think 10 is most likely Lesser Masked Weaver.

 

[JayFeatherPL]

Please check the Macauley images for this species. afaik, all here (your images) are males, or at least in breeding plumage. The headline ebird images (a subset of those in Macauley, and usually the same as the "headline" birds of the world images; are also the Merlin pack images) show a female but a particularly greenish one. In contrast, some others look +/- identical to the OP post.

Here is the headline female image. It looks more greenish than the OP but shows the bicoloured bill:

ML101637371 - Taveta Golden-Weaver - Macaulay Library

Macaulay Library ML101637371; © Mike Grant; Arusha, Tanzania

macaulaylibrary.org

[don't know why they chose this as a headline image: very poorly lit]

And here is one from the remaining Macauley library which looks very much like the "canary" (image 8):

ML370204531 - Taveta Golden-Weaver - Macaulay Library

Macaulay Library ML370204531; © Diane Drobka; Tanga, Tanzania

macaulaylibrary.org

Roughly 5% of Macauley african images are wrongly identified. However, the similarity to others, inc. the headline pic, and the lack of other suitable candidates—it's a distinctive looking species—mean I don't think it's the case here.

As I noted, I've not been back through the other images to check if there are other taveta golden weavers. But 8 is clearly one imho.

Would you like to check if the other weavers are also Taveta? I can see you know African birds pretty well...

And by the way I've got a question for you: how can I separate Taveta from Golden-backed Weaver?