Weavers (Ploceidae)

Red-headed Quelea (Quelea erythrops) - HBW 15, p. 140

French: Travailleur à tête rouge German: Rotkopfweber Spanish: Quelea Cabecirrojo

Taxonomy: Ploceus erythrops Hartlaub, 1848, São Tomé.
Sometimes placed with Q. cardinalis in a separate genus, Queleopsis. Has hybridized with Q. quelea in captivity. S populations described as race viniceps, but validity uncertain; although morphological criteria for recognition minimal, timing of moult and breeding suggests possible separation of N & S populations; further study required. Treated as monotypic.

Distribution: SW Senegal, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, W Mali (Niger floodplain), Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, SW Burkina Faso and Ghana E to SW Niger, SW & NW Nigeria, C & SW Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, São Tomé, W Gabon, SW PRCongo and inland along R Congo and R Ubangi, S Central African Republic, W & NE DRCongo, S Sudan, SW Ethiopia, W Uganda, W Kenya, C Tanzania, W Rwanda, W Burundi and Malawi; NW Angola, Zambia, SE Mozambique and E coastal South Africa. Occasional in NE Namibia and N Botswana (Caprivi region) and on Zimbabwean side of R Zambezi.