Ploceus melanocephalus
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~40% in a week ~70%
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 |
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Black-headed Weaver sighting in Niokolo-Koba National Park on a given day, based on 83 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 99th most-seen of the 215 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 40%, and over a week to about 70%, if each day is a fresh chance.
December to March
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Black-headed Weaver in Niokolo-Koba National Park on a given day, against about 10% in April, August–September and November, the lowest months. Those are among Niokolo-Koba National Park's driest months, with almost no rain against 300 mm in August. May–July and 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.
4th of 13
Of the 13 parks where we can rate Black-headed Weaver sightings, Niokolo-Koba National Park ranks 4th at about 20%. The best odds are in Queen Elizabeth National Park (Uganda, about 40%), Murchison Falls National Park (Uganda, about 30%) and Kibale National Park (Uganda, about 20%). All parks ranked.
Same genus: Ploceus
The closest relatives of the Black-headed Weaver that you can see in Niokolo-Koba National Park (genus Ploceus, Typical Weavers) are Village Weaver (about 10%), Little Weaver (about 10%) and Olive-naped 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 Niokolo-Koba National Park (83 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.
