White-billed buffalo weaver

White-billed buffalo weaver
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Ploceidae
Genus:	Bubalornis
Species:	B. albirostris
Binomial name
Bubalornis albirostris (Vieillot, 1817)

The white-billed buffalo weaver (Bubalornis albirostris) is a resident breeding bird species in most of Africa south of the Sahara Desert.

This common weaver occurs in open country, especially cultivation and scrub. It is a communal breeder, building massive untidy stick nests in tree colonies, each of which may have several spherical woven nests within. Two to four eggs are laid.

The white-billed buffalo weaver is large and stocky, commonly measuring 23 to 24 centimeters^{[citation needed]}. The adult is mainly black with white flecking on the back and wings. The conical bill is very thick, and appears more so because it is surmounted by a white frontal shield. The bill is white in breeding males.

The adult female and non-breeding male are similar, but the bill is black. Young birds are dark brown in plumage.

The white-billed buffalo weaver is a gregarious species which feeds on grain and insects. This is a noisy bird, especially in colonies, with a range of cackles and squeaks.

References