Yellow weaver
THERE are many gregarious colonies of yellow weavers in local rivers and reed beds.
They occur from north of Port Elizabeth along the east coast to East Africa, and only a short distance inland.
The birds live in highly vocal breeding communities and forage in trees for seeds, fruit and insects. The yellow weaver’s voice is a high pitched swizzling harsh ‘chic’.
Breeding season is from September to February for this bird, whose nest is a neat, round/oval shape which is woven by the male from strips of reed, grass and palm leaves. It has a vertical entrance suspended between upright reeds, drooping branches or palm frond over water one to two metres high.
It lays two to three eggs which are white or pale blue with black, brown or grey spots. Its Zulu name is iHlokohloko.
