A bird with a bright yellow belly and head suffused with orange somewhat resembling a ray of sunlight on the wing!

Meet the Golden Palm Weaver

“IMG_1153” by don_macauley is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

The golden palm weaver (Ploceus bojeri) has black eye’s which is in striking contrast to the orange (male) or yellow (female) head. The adult male has uniform orange on the head, shading to a chestnut patch on the lower throat – looking somewhat similar to the male Eastern Golden Weaver the orange face pales onto the ear-coverts and sides of the neck. The Golden Palm Weaver shows no seasonal change in plumage.

The breeding male is bright yellow with a mostly orange head.

Juvenile males have a yellow head with developing orange on the nape and lower throat.

The Golden Palm Weaver is found on the East African coast, and inland, from Kenya to Ethiopia.

The Golden Palm Weaver prefers to inhabit palm savanna on the coast, as well as riverine habitats. It also extends into savanna areas below 1200 m and with more than 500 mm annual rainfall inland.

The diet of the Golden-palm weaver consists of seeds and insects.

The Golden Palm Weaver is colonial, and suspected to be polygynous. It may occur in mixed colonies with Eastern Golden Weavers or with Village Weavers P. cucullatus. The male displays while hanging below the nest entrance, with his wings spread vertically, but the wings usually move very little; the head may be bowed slowly. The nest is spherical with no entrance tube. The male weaves the outer shell of long grass strips or strips from palm fronds and builds a complete inner shell of short grass strips. The female lines accepted nests with leaf fragments and fine grass heads. Nests are usually suspended under palm fronds or over water in thorn trees. A clutch of 2 eggs is laid within, they are green, mottled with grey or reddish markings.

The Golden Palm Weaver is classified as of Least Concern on the IUCN red list.

You can watch and listen to this bird right here in the video below: