Ploceus melanocephalus
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~90% in a week >90%
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:
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Djoudj National Bird Sanctuary | 🇸🇳 Senegal | |
| 2 | Queen Elizabeth National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 3 | Murchison Falls National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 4 | Kibale National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 5 | Niokolo-Koba National Park | 🇸🇳 Senegal | |
| 6 | Virunga National Park | 🇨🇩 Democratic Republic of the Congo | |
| 7 | Akagera National Park | 🇷🇼 Rwanda | |
| 8 | Lake Mburo National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 9 | Mole National Park | 🇬🇭 Ghana | |
| 10 | Volcanoes National Park | 🇷🇼 Rwanda | |
| 11 | Doñana National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 12 | Semuliki National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 13 | Bwindi Impenetrable National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 14 | Nyungwe National Park | 🇷🇼 Rwanda | |
| 15 | 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 |
Likely
About 50% of wildlife watchers report a Black-headed Weaver sighting in Djoudj National Bird Sanctuary on a given day, based on 113 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 41st most-seen of the 173 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 90%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
February to April
In those months about 60% of wildlife watchers report a Black-headed Weaver in Djoudj National Bird Sanctuary on a given day, against about 40% in January and November, the lowest months. Those are among Djoudj National Bird Sanctuary's driest months, with almost no rain against 55 mm in August. May to October have 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.
Yes
Of the 15 parks where we can rate Black-headed Weaver sightings, Djoudj National Bird Sanctuary has the highest daily chance: about 50%. Next come Queen Elizabeth National Park (Uganda, about 40%) and Murchison Falls National Park (Uganda, about 30%). All parks ranked.
Same genus: Ploceus
The closest relatives of the Black-headed Weaver that you can see in Djoudj National Bird Sanctuary (genus Ploceus, Typical Weavers) are Village Weaver (about 20%), Little Weaver (about 20%) and Vitelline Masked-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 Djoudj National Bird Sanctuary (113 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), 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.
