EPOW - Ecology Picture of the Week

The Commensal Weaver

Baglafecht Weaver (Ploceus baglafecht reichenowi), Family Ploceidae
Olasiti Lodge, Tanzania

Explanation:  This bird is a ... weaver.  It weaves nests.  From strips of palm leaves.  In villages.

Here is a male Baglafecht Weaver, stripping small
shreds from this tree bark for its nest material.

Compare this male with the main image further above, of the female.

Here, a male (left) and female (right) are out on a mutual foraging expedition.

The yellow iris of the eyes of the male provide a striking
contrast to the black of the face, perhaps
serving as a sexual signaling device fo the female.

Here, this individual is stripping shreds of nesting material
from a palm frond.  

This is what helps make Baglafecht Weavers "commensal"
species with humans in African villages.

Baglafecht Weavers are found patchily distributed throughout central and eastern Africa.