The red-billed quelea, also known as the red-billed weaver or red-billed dioch, is a small—approximately 12 cm (4.7 in) long and weighing 15–26 g (0.53–0.92 oz)—migratory, sparrow-like bird of the weaver family, Ploceidae, native to Sub-Saharan Africa.
Image: Red billed Quelea (Quelea quelea) (6040990915)
Image: Red billed Quelea (Quelea quelea) Flickr Lip Kee
Two males of subsp. lathamii at their nest site
After 8:00 in the morning, tightly packed flocks await their chance to drink at waterholes in the Kgalagadi and Etosha respectively.
Ploceidae is a family of small passerine birds, many of which are called weavers, weaverbirds, weaver finches, or bishops. These names come from the nests of intricately woven vegetation created by birds in this family. In most recent classifications, the Ploceidae are a clade that excludes some birds that have historically been placed in the family, such as some of the sparrows, but which includes the monotypic subfamily Amblyospizinae. The family is believed to have originated in the mid-Miocene. All birds of the Ploceidae are native to the Old World, most in Africa south of the Sahara, though a few live in tropical areas of Asia. A few species have been introduced outside their native range.
Ploceidae
A nest in the early stages of construction
Weaverbirds at West Bengal
Adult Sporopipes at its spherical grass nest, placed in a shrub