village weaver , also known as the spotted-backed weaver or black-headed weaver , is a species of bird in the family Ploceidae found in much of sub-Saharan Africa. It has also been introduced to Hispaniola, Mauritius and Réunion.

This often abundant species occurs in a wide range of open or semi-open habitats, including woodlands and human habitation, and frequently forms large noisy colonies in towns, villages and hotel grounds. This weaver builds a large coarsely woven nest made of grass and leaf strips with a downward facing entrance which is suspended from a branch in a tree. Two to three eggs are laid. Village weavers are colonial breeders, so many nests may hang from one tree.

Village weavers feed principally on seeds and grain, and can be a crop pest, but it will readily take insects, especially when feeding young, which partially redresses the damage to agriculture. The calls of this bird include harsh buzzes and chattering.

Description
The village weaver is a stocky 15 to 17 cm bird with a strong conical bill and dark reddish eyes. In the northern part of its range, the breeding male has a black head edged by chestnut (typically most distinct on the nape and chest). Towards the southern part of its range, the amount of black and chestnut diminish, and the breeding males of the southernmost subspecies only have a black face and throat, while the nape and crown are yellow. In all subspecies the breeding male has a black bill, black and yellow upperparts and wings, and yellow underparts.

The non-breeding male has a yellow head with an olive crown, grey upperparts and whitish underparts. The wings remain yellow and black. The adult female has streaked olive upperparts, yellow and black wings, and pale yellow underparts. Young birds are like the female but browner on the back.

Distribution and habitat
The village weaver is among the more common weaver bird species, and is widespread in Sub-Saharan Africa, but is absent from the arid regions in the South-West and North-East.

Behavior and ecology
Village weavers forage and roost in large groups, often with other weaver species. In some areas, they move periodically along fixed routes. The birds look for food on the ground, but also look up to search vegetation and trees. The village weaver nests in colonies and is very active during the breeding season. Birds fly in and leave again constantly, making a lot of noise. Colonies can contain as many as 150 nests, but anything between eight and a hundred nests in a single tree is usual.

A village weaver's nest is 14 to 17 cm long and 11 to13 cm high. The entrance is mostly extended into a tube of 4 to 8 cm long. The male weaves the structure of the nest using long strips of leaf, that he has torn from palms or large grass species such as Arundo donax. The nest is roofed, ovoid or kidney-shaped, internally consisting of a nesting chamber that is separated by a ground sill from an antechamber, that has the entrance of the entire nest at the bottom. On the inside, the ceiling is made of strips of grass or other leaves, which are simply inserted instead of woven-in. The floor on the inside is lined by short, thatched strips of palm, grass blades or heads, and feathers. The nest requires about three hundred long strips of leaf, which the male tears off and transports one by one. The male gathers building material throughout the building process, during which he works with his feet in exactly the same position, and maintaining the same orientation. He starts by creating the attachment by weaving around mostly two hanging branches just below a fork, a foot on both of them, which he includes in a ring he constructs by weaving in the plain of the branches at the edge of his reach. He than extends the high end of the ring in front of its head, gradually working towards his feet creating a half-globe, that is the nesting chamber. The male continues by constructing the roof of the antechamber, working over his head. This is followed by lining the ceiling, and constructing the entrance tube, hanging upside-down, but still with his feet at the same spots. The weaving technique consists of seizing a strip of near the end and double the strip back on itself. Next he pokes the end with a vibrating movement in between his previous work until it sticks. He then release it, moves his head to the other side of the nest wall, seizes the strip again and pokes it in somewhere. He keeps repeating this, regularly reversing the direction in which he weaves the strip, poking and pulling the strip through holes until the entire length is used. The female collects material too, but she occupies herself only with the lining of the nesting cup.
Afrikaans: Bontrugwewer
English: Black-headed Village Weaver
Spottedbacked Weaver, Spotted-backed Weaver, Village Weaver, Western Village Weaver
Shona: Jesa
Serbian: Seoska tkalja
Swedish: Byvävare
Swahili: Kwera Nguya
Tswana: Thaga
Turkish: kara başlı dokumacı





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