The olive-naped weaver (Ploceus brachypterus) is a bird species in the family
Ploceidae. It is found in
West Africa from Senegal and Gambia to Cameroon.
Taxonomy
The olive-naped weaver was
formally described and illustrated in 1837 by the English naturalist
William John Swainson. He did not specify the origin of his specimens but they probably came from Senegal. He placed the species in the genus Ploceus and coined the
binomial namePloceus brachypterus.[2][3] The specific epithet is from
Ancient Greekbrakhupteros meaning "short-winged".[4]
The olive-naped weaver was formerly considered to be a
subspecies of the
black-necked weaver(Ploceus nigricollis).[5] The two species differ in plumage and in the colour of the iris,[6] but a molecular study published in 2019 found that they are genetically very similar.[7]
^Kirwan, G.M.; Craig, A.J.F.; del Hoyo, J.; Collar, N. (2022). Billerman, S.M.; Sly, N.D. (eds.). "Olive-naped Weaver (Ploceus brachypterus), version 1.0". Birds of the World. Ithaca, NY, USA: Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
doi:
10.2173/bow.bknwea1.01.
^De Silva, T.N.; Peterson, A.T.; Perktas, U. (2019). "An extensive molecular phylogeny of weaverbirds (Aves: Ploceidae) unveils broad nonmonophyly of traditional genera and new relationships". The Auk. 136 (ukz041).
doi:
10.1093/auk/ukz041.