Ploceus melanocephalus
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~60%
The black-headed weaver (Ploceus melanocephalus), also known as yellow-backed weaver, is a species of bird in the family Ploceidae. It is a resident breeder in damp areas in tropical Africa. The black-headed weaver was formally described in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Loxia melanocephala. He specified the type locality as Guinea. Linnaeus based his account on the "Gamboa Groasbeak" that had been described and illustrated in 1750 by the English naturalist Eleazar Albin in his book A Natural History of Birds. Albin had sketched a live specimen belonging to the Duke of Chandos at his country house, Cannons, which was located about 11 mi (18 km) northwest of London near Edgware. The specific epithet melanocephalus, melanocephala combines the Ancient Greek μελας/melas, μελανος/melanos meaning "black" with -κεφαλος/-kephalos meaning "-headed". The black-headed weaver is now one of 67 species placed in the genus Ploceus that was introduced in 1816 by the French naturalist Georges Cuvier.
Five subspecies are recognised: Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Queen Elizabeth National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 2 | Murchison Falls National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 3 | Kibale National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 4 | Niokolo-Koba National Park | 🇸🇳 Senegal | |
| 5 | Virunga National Park | 🇨🇩 Democratic Republic of the Congo | |
| 6 | Akagera National Park | 🇷🇼 Rwanda | |
| 7 | Lake Mburo National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 8 | Volcanoes National Park | 🇷🇼 Rwanda | |
| 9 | Doñana National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 10 | Semuliki National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 11 | Bwindi Impenetrable National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 12 | Nyungwe National Park | 🇷🇼 Rwanda | |
| 13 | Serengeti National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kigali | 🇷🇼 Rwanda | |
| 2 | Ouagadougou | 🇧🇫 Burkina Faso | |
| 3 | Dakar | 🇸🇳 Senegal | |
| 4 | N'Djamena | 🇹🇩 Chad | |
| 5 | Kampala | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 6 | Brazzaville | 🇨🇬 Republic of the Congo | |
| 7 | Serrekunda | 🇬🇲 Gambia | |
| 8 | Lisbon | 🇵🇹 Portugal | |
| 9 | Singapore | 🇸🇬 Singapore |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Diego Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Parc des oiseaux | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 3 | Safaripark Beekse Bergen | 🇳🇱 Netherlands | |
| 4 | Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Dudley Zoo | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 6 | Krefelder Zoo | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 7 | Bloedel Conservatory | 🇨🇦 Canada |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Black-headed Weaver sighting in Brazzaville on a given day, based on 11 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 59th most-seen of the 82 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 60%, if each day is a fresh chance.
April, October and December
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Black-headed Weaver in Brazzaville on a given day, against about 10% in January–March, May, July–September and November, the lowest months. Those are among Brazzaville's wettest months, with about 210 mm of rain a month against almost none in July. June has too few records to rate.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Black-headed Weaver sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
6th of 9
Of the 9 cities where we can rate Black-headed Weaver sightings, Brazzaville ranks 6th at about 10%. The best odds are in Kigali (Rwanda, about 50%), Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso, about 40%) and Dakar (Senegal, about 30%).
Same genus: Ploceus
The closest relatives of the Black-headed Weaver that you can see in Brazzaville (genus Ploceus, Typical Weavers) are Slender-billed Weaver (about 70%), Black-necked Weaver (about 30%) and Vieillot's Weaver (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Black-headed Weaver is recorded against all the birds logged in Brazzaville (11 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
