Weavers (Ploceidae)

Spectacled Weaver (Ploceus ocularis) - HBW 15, p. 182

French: Tisserin à lunettes German: Brillenweber Spanish: Tejedor de Anteojos
Other common names: Bottle Weaver

Taxonomy: Ploceus ocularis A. Smith, 1828, Eastern Cape (= Durban), South Africa.
Species name sometimes given as "ocularius", but this later spelling by the same describer is an incorrect subsequent spelling and is not available. Often grouped with P. nigricollis and P. melanogaster in a "spectacled weaver" superspecies. Proposed race tenuirostris (described from from Okavango region of NW Botswana) is synonymized with crocatus, and brevior (from NE South Africa) with nominate. Three subspecies recognized.

Subspecies and Distribution:

crocatus ( Hartlaub, 1881) - SE Nigeria and Cameroon E, discontinuously, to S Sudan, SW Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania (W of Rift Valley), S to S Angola (R Cunene), NE Namibia (Caprivi region), Botswana (Okavango Basin), Zambia (W of Muchinga Mts) and NW Zimbabwe (Zambezi Valley).
suahelicus Neumann, 1905 - Kenya E of Rift Valley, E Tanzania, Malawi, E Zambia, E Zimbabwe and Mozambique (N of R Limpopo).
ocularis A. Smith, 1828 - Mozambique (S of R Limpopo), E South Africa and Swaziland.