Taking a late afternoon stroll by the river in search of new Dragonfly species I was amazed to hear a volume of birdsong from weaver birds at Pamuzinda. The song is normally associated with those hours of the morning when I, at least, wish I was still in the land of nod but find, regrettably, that I am not.

There is a small island in the river just in front of the outside dining deck at Pamuzinda and this was the source of the evening cacophony. A large thorn tree there has become the chosen nesting site of a colony of Southern Masked Weavers – Ploceus velatus. These delightfully brightly coloured yellow, black and orange birds are ubiquitous throughout much of Southern Africa. The park at Pamuzinda is lucky enough to be home to many colonies of various sizes throughout the park.

Weaver bird diet

In the build-up to the breeding season the males of this, and many other Weaver species, adopt breeding or nuptial plumage. The females are much more drab and remain so throughout the year. After the breeding season, the males revert to winter or eclipse plumage. This plumage closely resembles that of the female save only that the males retain their red eyes which are lacking in the females.

The weaver diet is somewhat omnivorous as they will take seeds, nectar and insects. These birds time their breeding season to coincide with the onset of the rains when many termite colonies take to the air. This provides a rich source of instant protein in, often, prodigious numbers.

How the weaver birds breed

Some Wildlife species pair for life and this strategy offers a tremendous energy-saving bonus as each breeding season approaches. The benefit of this cunning plan on the part of nature is in the time and effort saved having to find, attract and convince a potential partner to set up a home. There’s no need for many of the standard courtship rituals as they have been through it all before and know one another intimately. Gone is the need to meet the in-laws, go out for expensive meals, buy flowers, share the washing up and trail to the shops. Instead, these species get to be at home with their feet up!

This is not the case with Southern Masked Weavers, each season they have to start at the beginning. Being a male weaver, particularly in this species, is work. The males take on several mates. To attract the females they build a whole housing estate of potential nests.

Breeding at Pamuzinda

Each nest takes the best part of a day or more to construct and each male can build up to over 20. He normally constructs them to a “not quite finished” stage. When deemed suitable by a female he completes the main construction by adding an entrance porch. The female takes care of the interior decorating.

To deter predators such as lizards, snakes and monkeys the nests are usually suspended from the tips of branches or palm fronds. The nests are often above water, and bob about wildly in the wind.

Many nests, especially of young males, are not properly secured and fall off into the undergrowth or water. A host of scavengers will be waiting to feast on the contents.

Weaver bird colonies at Pamuzinda

Weaver colonies are a constant source of noise throughout the day. Not strident but more a background buzzing. Some years ago when I was based at our sister lodge – Chengeta – I had a face-to-face, right-of-way dispute with a puff adder. To give him his due, he tried to warn me and I could see him hissing away fit to bust – but couldn’t hear a thing. Too much time on a rifle range when young and too much deep diving were catching up with me.

On a visit to the UK shortly afterwards I bought a one-size-fits-all all hearing aid at great expense. The aid worked fine until I got back to Chengeta where it developed a strange interference noise and was discarded accordingly. A week later, I tried it again and got the same interference. However, this time I happened to be looking up and could see a weaver bird chattering. I realised that what I had put down to a malfunction was the background noise of a weaver colony. Despite all my years in Africa, I had never heard the weaver bird song before and so did not recognize it!

As to the title of this blog entry. After erecting the equivalent of a small village, our overworked male then needs to attract female residents.

Weaver birds at Pamuzinda seem to attract females in the late afternoon, 4.30 to 5.00 o’clock. The method appears to involve hanging upside down from one of the nests, flapping wings madly. Weaver birds also yell and screech at the top of their voices. This seems to be a group activity as all male residents of the site coordinate their timing. This sound gives rise to the “Dawn Chorus” which attracted my attention in the first place.