Ploceus capensis
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days <5% in a week ~10%
The Cape weaver (Ploceus capensis) is a species of bird in the weaver family, Ploceidae, found in southern Africa. In 1760 the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson included a description of the Cape weaver in his Ornithologie based on a specimen collected from the Cape of Good Hope. He used the French name Le carouge du Cap de Bonne Espérance and the Latin Xanthornus Capitis Bonae Spei. Although Brisson coined Latin names, these do not conform to the binomial system and are not recognised by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature. When in 1766 the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus updated his Systema Naturae for the twelfth edition, he added 240 species that had been previously described by Brisson. One of these was the Cape weaver. Linnaeus included a brief description, coined the binomial name Oriolus capensis and cited Brisson's work. The specific name capensis denotes the Cape of Good Hope. This species is now placed in the genus Ploceus that was erected by the French naturalist Georges Cuvier in 1816. The species is monotypic.
The Cape weaver is a stocky 17 cm long bird with streaked olive-brown upperparts and... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Coast National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 2 | De Hoop Nature Reserve | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 3 | Golden Gate Highlands National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 4 | Garden Route National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 5 | Addo Elephant National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 6 | Table Mountain National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 7 | Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 8 | uMkhuze Game Reserve | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 9 | iSimangaliso Wetland Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 10 | Kruger National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cape Town | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 2 | Pretoria | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 3 | Johannesburg | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 4 | Durban | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Monkeyland | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 2 | Birds of Eden | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Cape Weaver sighting in iSimangaliso Wetland Park on a given day, based on 14 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 304th most-seen of the 351 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, and over a week to about 10%, if each day is a fresh chance.
Any time of year
In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Cape Weaver in iSimangaliso Wetland Park on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Cape Weaver sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
9th of 10
Of the 10 parks where we can rate Cape Weaver sightings, iSimangaliso Wetland Park ranks 9th at under 5%. The best odds are in West Coast National Park (South Africa, about 70%), De Hoop Nature Reserve (South Africa, about 60%) and Golden Gate Highlands National Park (South Africa, about 50%). All parks ranked.
Same genus: Ploceus
The closest relatives of the Cape Weaver that you can see in iSimangaliso Wetland Park (genus Ploceus, Typical Weavers) are African Golden-Weaver (about 40%), Dark-backed Weaver (about 40%) and Spectacled Weaver (about 30%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Cape Weaver is recorded against all the birds logged in iSimangaliso Wetland Park (14 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.
