Black-capped Social-Weaver

About the Black-capped Social-Weaver

The black-capped social weaver (Pseudonigrita cabanisi) is a sparrow-like species of bird that has been assigned to the weaverbird family. It was originally described by Fisher and Reichenow, and later re-classified by the latter to the genus Pseudonigrita. Adults have a large black cap, ivory-colored bill, red eyes, brown back and wings, blackish-brown tail, white throat and underparts with a black midline, and dark horn-colored legs. It breeds in colonies and roofed nests with an entrance at the bottom in thorny trees such as acacias are constructed by the male from grass stems. It is found in parts of Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, and Tanzania. It is sometimes kept and bred in captivity.

In 1884, the black-capped social weaver was first described by German East-Africa explorer Gustav Fischer and German ornithologist Anton Reichenow as Nigrita cabanisi, based on a specimen collected in 1883 by Fischer in the Pare Mountains. In 1903, Reichenow assigned the species to his newly erected genus Pseudonigrita, because he considered P. arnaudi and P. cabanisi related to weaverbirds (Ploceidae), while the other species Nigrita bicolor, N. canicapillus, N. fusconota... Wikipedia →