Plocepasser mahali
| White-browed sparrow-weaver | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Male, Baringo Lake, Kenya
|
|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Ploceidae |
| Genus: | Plocepasser |
| Species: | P. mahali |
| Binomial name | |
|
Plocepasser mahali (Smith, 1836) |
|
The white-browed sparrow-weaver (Plocepasser mahali) is a predominantly brown, sparrow-sized bird found throughout central and north-central southern Africa. It is found in groups of two to eleven individuals consisting of one breeding pair and nonreproductive individuals.
During his expedition to the interior of South-Africa in 1834-35, Andrew Smith, collected specimens of the white-browed sparrow weaver at the Modder River, which he described in 1836, giving it the scientific name Plocepasser mahali.
Smith did not provide an explanation for the species epithet mahali, but is clear it is not a Latin name. Probably it is derived from the vernacular name for the bird in se tswana mogale or from the Sesotho word mohale, a brave or fierce person, which suggests the bird's name may refer to its angry scolding.
Ludwig Reichenbach called it Mahali Philagrus in 1863. "Grey-capped social weaver" has been designated the official name by the International Ornithological Committee (IOC). Other common names used in English include black-billed mahali weaverbird, black-billed sparrow weaver, Kismayu sparrow-weaver, stripe-breasted sparrow-weaver, white-browed weaver bird, and white-crowned weaver bird. In Afrikaans it is called buffelwewer or koringvoël, in Swahili korobindo ushi-mweupe and in se tswana mogale.
There are four recognized subspecies of the white-browed sparrow-weaver:
male
P. m. melanorhynchus
Lake Ziway, Ethiopia
female
P. m. ansorgei
Etosha National Park, Namibia
...
Wikipedia