EPOW - Ecology Picture of the Week

Black-necked (or Western Spectacled) Weaver (Ploceus nigricollis)
Western Democratic Republic of the Congo, Africa

Explanation:   A bird in the hand ... This beautiful specimen is a Black-necked Weaver, caught for me by a young boy in the very remote village of Botuali in the lowland swamp forests of the Congo River Basin, central Africa.  

This is a strictly tropical, central African species.  Unlike other species of weavers, the Black-necked Weaver is not social and does not form large colonies.  It is a shy inhabitant of forests where it forms hanging nests.  It is likely seldom caught.  

Some of the features distinguishing this species from other weaver species of the area can be seen in these photos:  the sides of the face are yellow with a black "spectacled" appearance around the eye; the back of the neck is black; the upperparts are black; and the flight feathers on the wing are narrowly edged with yellow.  This is the nominate race nigricollis (whereas race brachypterus, found elsewhere, is bright yellowish-olive above and on the neck, although in some taxonomies the dark-backed race is called melanxanthus and a sepia-brown-backed race is nigricollis).

Note that the boy in the above photo is wearing a home-made sling-shot.  In villages of much of central Africa, much of the wildlife, including birds, is taken as game meat ("bush meat"), either eaten locally or sold to the towns or cities.  However, we released this bird back into the forest shortly after I took these photos.