Orange Bishop

About the Orange Bishop

The northern red bishop or orange bishop (Euplectes franciscanus) is a small passerine bird in the family Ploceidae. It is part of the largest genus in the family with over 60 different species. Its sister species is the Southern red bishop (Euplectes orix). This species is most recognizable by the bright reddish orange with contrasting black plumage displayed by the breeding male. It is most common throughout the northern African continent but has also been introduced to areas in the western hemisphere.

The northern red bishop was first described by Paul Erdmann Isert in 1789 in Accra, Ghana. Euplectes directly translates to "good weaver," while franciscanus relates to the Franciscans, a religious order from the 12th century that symbolized the crimson color.

The northern red bishop was previously a subspecies of its neighboring species, the southern red bishop (Euplectes orix). Today, these two are classified as separate, distinct species; separated by the equator, the northern red bishop inhabits the northern continent of Africa, while the southern red bishop resides in the south. Molecular phylogenetic data in 2007 supported these two species as having... Wikipedia →