(TANZANIA Dar Es Salaam) A weaver in a group of bronze mannikins? (1 Viewer)

[dimitriskaio]

Greetings all, I am located in Dar Es Salaam. A few days ago before noon I was photographing a group of 30 to 40 small birds foraging in my yard.
Upon inspecting the photos and googling the species, it grabbed my attention that it was a multi-species group. Its main part seemed to be bronze mannikins (Spermestes cucullata) but there were also two brightly colored birds , probably zanzibar red bishop (Euplectes nigroventris) and at least two others that looked like female yellow-crowned bishops (Euplectes afer) and/or sparrows.
Am I correct in identifying them and more importantly, are multi-species groups a common occurence?
The inserts in the photo are the best examples I grabbed from all the photos I took.

 

[Bewick]

The weaver looking birds are both Zanzibar red bishops, one female and the other seems to be a juvenile/immature Zanzibar moulting.

 

[dimitriskaio]

The weaver looking birds are both Zanzibar red bishops, one female and the other seems to be a juvenile/immature Zanzibar moulting.

Thank you, it makes sense! Do you know if it's common different species foraging together?

 

[Bewick]

Thank you, it makes sense! Do you know if it's common different species foraging together?

Yes, if an area is particularly rich in food availability you would expect to see species with similar diets associating with each other. In France sunflower fields often cause congregations of passerines including corvids, buntings, sparrows, finches etc as well non-passerines such as woodpeckers. Other advantages of mixed-species flocks is for increased protection against predation.