Rufous-tailed Weaver
ID Features: A large, unusual and distinctive weaver with scaly plumage, rufous tail and wing panels, a white-edged shoulder, and pale eyes. Nests in colonies. Similar in shape and size to Red-billed Buffalo-Weaver, but separated by many details, such as the lack of the red bill. The vocalizations are harsh nasal "skeeya" and "krrrra" notes, sometimes strung together into a series.
Habitat: Found in moderately moist savanna and woodland at middle elevations, often in small flocks.
Locations: Kenya, Tanzania
Red-billed Quelea
ID Features: A small, short-tailed weaver with a mottled back and a yellow or reddish bill, eye-ring, and legs. When breeding, the male develops a variable black face mask with a surrounding wash that can be rosy, buff, or cinnamon, although the face can also be whitish. Non-breeding Red-headed Weaver is superficially similar, but it is much larger than Red-billed Quelea, and it is mostly solitary in woodland and had an unstreaked back.
Habitat: Large flocks are resident and nomadic in arid savanna, grassland, and cultivated areas. In wetter tears this species forms enormous flocks numbering tens of thousands, earning it the name "feathered locust".
Locations: Kenya, Uganda, Angola, Ethiopia, Ghana, Gambia, South Africa, Zambia, Cape Verde Namibia
Red-billed Buffalo-Weaver
ID Features: A large, chunky, thickest weaver. The male is chocolate-brown with red legs and a hefty vermilion bill; the female and juvenile are paler and streaky underneath, with paler bills. In flight the species shows striking white wing patches. Buffalo-Weavers forage on the ground in small to large groups, often in association with starlings and other birds, searching for insects, seeds, and fruits. Their odd electronic-sounding vocalizations often draw attention to them. The similar White-billed Buffalo-Weaver does not have a red or pinkish-orange bill.
Habitat: Family groups prefer dry woodlands with large trees that hold their sprawling and messy communal nests.
Locations: Kenya, South Africa, Tanzania, Namibia
Red-headed Weaver
ID Features: The only weaver with a slender red-to-orange bill. The breeding male is geographically variable, but all races have diagnostic red heads. The female and non-breeding male have mostly plain gray or brown upperparts, red or yellow in the wing, and pale underparts. The species is often detected by its distinctive, high-pitched insect-like squeaks and chips that are incorporated into a typical weaver call and song. The much smaller Red-billed Quelea differs from Red-headed Weaver by having a streaky back and occurring in large flocks.
Habitat: Pairs occupy broadleaf woodland and moist savanna, where they frequently join mixed-species flocks, foraging for insects by diligently searching leaves and branches.
Locations: Kenya, Uganda, Ghana, South Africa, Tanzania, Namibia
White-billed Buffalo-Weaver
ID Features: A big, bulky, long-tailed black weaver. The bill is white in males and black in females. There is a white patch on the front edge of the shoulder, and also a pale patch in the wing that can be conspicuous in flight. Immatures are dark brown with heavy streaking below. Builds huge communal stick nests. Similar to Red-billed Buffalo-Weaver, but never shows a red bill. The common call is a harsh "sjet" that is often given repeatedly by a whole group in chorus.
Habitat: Found in dry savanna and woodland, often in flocks.
Locations: Kenya, Gambia
