Number of weavers ringed

Note: The data in this blog are based on the SAFRING database, with the number of weavers (and other birds) ringed since 1948 until today. Some of the birds may have been ringed in Africa but outside of southern Africa.

Weavers are among the most commonly ringed birds in southern Africa. There are 4 weavers in the top 10 species ringed with SAFRING rings (Table 1). The top species is the Barn Swallow, a migrant. This swallow has been targeted in the hopes of foreign recaptures. It is closely followed by the Southern Masked Weaver, a species not specifically targeted, but found throughout southern Africa in a wide variety of habitats. Looking at ringing plus recapture totals, puts the weaver at the top of the list.

Table 1. Top 10 of all species ringed with SAFRING rings, 1948-July 2023

Spno	Species	Ringed	Retrapped	Recovered	Total
493	Barn Swallow	183798	912	609	185319
803	Southern Masked Weaver	179740	10712	760	191212
805	Red-billed Quelea	158406	313	550	159269
808	Southern Red Bishop	133487	6509	274	140270
44	Cape Gannet	130398	31618	2894	164910
317	Laughing Dove	56795	4917	1084	62796
786	Cape Sparrow	56739	2906	436	60081
1172	Cape White-eye	51039	5659	135	56833
799	Cape Weaver	48516	4661	292	53469
820	Red-headed Finch	41397	5904	80	47381

The third most ringed species is the Red-billed Quelea. There were a number of years when the Quelea Control Unit paid expenses for teams to ring Red-billed Quelea, making this the top ringed bird for some time. Unfortunately the recapture and ring recovery rates are very low for the quelea.

Next in line is the Southern Red Bishop, also a weaver that is common, widespread and fairly easily caught in nets in wetlands. The bishop is followed by several other species (a seabird and then common garden birds), the next weaver being the Cape Weaver, a near endemic to South Africa.

Measuring the head length – Southern Red Bishop

The number of birds of a particular species ringed per year varies enormously as shown for the 3 most ringed weavers.

Fig. 1. Annual ringing totals for the Southern Masked Weaver (803), Red-billed Quelea (805) and Southern Red
Bishop (808). From “SAFRING ringing totals over 50 years” (pdf)

Some weavers, however, are not easily caught, meaning that the total caught by species varies enormously (see Table 2 below). The top 3 weavers have totals over 100000. The next one, Cape Weaver, is far behind at a little under 50000 ringed. The next 3 weavers have totals over 10000: Village Weaver, Sociable Weaver, and White-winged Widowbird. The least ringed species is Olive-headed Weaver with 1 ringed (and not even in southern Africa, but still with a SAFRING ring).

Table 2. Number of southern African weavers ringed with SAFRING rings, 1948-July 2023

Spno	Species	Ringed	Retrapped	Recovered	Total	Retrap rate	Recovery rate
779	Red-billed Buffalo Weaver	987	42	4	1033	4.3	0.4
780	White-browed Sparrow-weaver	9922	8785	41	18748	88.5	0.4
783	Sociable Weaver	19886	11515	1106	32507	57.9	5.6
789	Scaly-feathered Finch	8356	645	15	9016	7.7	0.2
790	Dark-backed Weaver	478	42	0	520	8.8	0.0
791	Spectacled Weaver	4565	921	11	5497	20.2	0.2
792	Lesser Masked Weaver	7100	183	16	7299	2.6	0.2
793	Red-headed Weaver	1119	115	2	1236	10.3	0.2
796	Chestnut Weaver	7571	47	7	7625	0.6	0.1
797	Village Weaver	23201	977	164	24342	4.2	0.7
799	Cape Weaver	48516	4661	292	53469	9.6	0.6
800	Yellow Weaver	6590	622	21	7233	9.4	0.3
801	Golden Weaver	1289	67	9	1365	5.2	0.7
802	Southern Brown-throated Weaver	3080	305	12	3397	9.9	0.4
803	Southern Masked Weaver	179740	10712	760	191212	6.0	0.4
804	Thick-billed Weaver	6938	578	38	7554	8.3	0.5
805	Red-billed Quelea	158406	313	550	159269	0.2	0.3
806	Red-headed Quelea	1470	22	3	1495	1.5	0.2
808	Southern Red Bishop	133487	6509	274	140270	4.9	0.2
809	Black-winged Bishop	350	6	3	359	1.7	0.9
810	Yellow Bishop	6888	850	19	7757	12.3	0.3
812	Yellow-crowned Bishop	5200	23	1	5224	0.4	0.0
813	Red-collared Widow	7566	173	18	7757	2.3	0.2
814	White-winged Widow	10205	185	6	10396	1.8	0.1
815	Yellow-backed Widow	434	32	0	466	7.4	0.0
816	Fan-tailed Widow	9041	704	20	9765	7.8	0.2
818	Long-tailed Widow	1623	10	0	1633	0.6	0.0
919	Olive-headed Weaver	1	0	0	1	0.0	0.0

Recaptures and recoveries

The White-browed Sparrow-Weaver has the highest recapture rate of any weaver species, at 88%. These birds mostly stay near their colonies year round. Not surprisingly, the Sociable Weaver has the second highest recapture rate of any weaver species. These birds are well ringed in intensive studies at Benfontein (for several decades) and Tswalu, and the birds also mostly stay in their colonies year round. Third is the Spectacled Weaver, a solitary weaver often found in gardens within its range. The Yellow Bishop and Red-headed Weaver also have recapture rates higher than 10%. Interestingly, the 5 weavers with the highest recapture rates are all in different genera.

The Sociable Weaver has a high recovery rate, possibly due to a high reporting rate, while most ringed weavers that die are simply not found. Other than the Sociable Weaver, all the weavers have recovery rates of <1%.

Recaptures and recoveries provide movement and longevity data – see a list of weaver longevities.

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