Village weaver
Ploceus cucullatus (Statius Muller, 1776)
The village weaver (Ploceus cucullatus) is a species in the family Ploceidae, order Passeriformes. Recorded adults weigh 33.4 g to 41.3 g. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.
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Quick facts about the village weaver
- Weight
- 33.4 g – 41.3 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Diet
- Granivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- woodlandsrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 12 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 2.55 – 2.8src for Young per litter or clutch
- Lifestyle
- Perchingsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Sedentarysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Where does the village weaver live?
Not recorded
What is the village weaver?
The village weaver (Ploceus cucullatus), also known as the spotted-backed weaver or black-headed weaver (the latter leading to easy confusion with P. melanocephalus), is a bird species in the family Ploceidae found in much of sub-Saharan Africa. It has also been introduced to Portugal and Venezuela as well as to the islands of Hispaniola, Martinique, Puerto Rico, Mauritius and Réunion.
This often abundant species occurs in a wide range of open or semi-open habitats, including woodlands and human habitation, and frequently forms large noisy colonies in towns, villages, and hotel grounds. This weaver builds a large coarsely woven nest made of grass and leaf strips with a downward-facing entrance, which is suspended from a branch in a tree. Two or three eggs are laid. Village weavers are colonial breeders, so many nests may hang from one tree.
Village weavers feed principally on seeds and grain, and can be a crop pest, but readily take insects, especially when feeding young, which partially redresses the damage to agriculture. The calls of this bird include harsh buzzes and chattering.
From the Wikipedia article “Village weaver” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Village_weaver&oldid=1380565042), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the village weaver endangered?
The village weaver is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species. What the categories mean.
How is the village weaver classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderPasseriformes
- familyPloceidae
- genusPloceus
- SpeciesPloceus cucullatus (Statius Muller, 1776)
Synonyms Malimbus cucullatus, Oriolus cucullatus, Ploceus stictonotus
Other names and names in other languages (59)
- Black-headed weaverEnglish
- Village/Spotted-backed weaverEnglish
- VIWEEnglish
- BontrugwewerAfrikaans
- حباك مقلنسArabic
- Домашен тъкачBulgarian
- teixidor urbàCatalan
- Teixidor socialCatalan
- snovač zahradníCzech
- Gwehydd PentrefWelsh
- Stor MaskevæverDanish
- DorfweberGerman
- TextorweberGerman
- vilaĝa teksbirdoEsperanto
- Tejedor comúnSpanish
- ChichiguaoSpanish
- Cigua HaitianaSpanish
- Madame SagáSpanish
- Tejedor africanoSpanish
- küla-kangurlindEstonian
- جولای دهکدهPersian
- kyläkutojaFinnish
- Malimbe gendarmeFrench
- Tisserin gendarmeFrench
- Fíodóir sráidbhaileIrish
- Tecelán vilegoGalician
- KabaraiHausa
- Madan saraHaitian Creole
- seoska pletiljaCroatian
- málinkó-szövőmadárHungarian
- UxavefariIcelandic
- Tessitore gendarmeItalian
- ズグロウロコハタオリJapanese
- ქუდიანი ფეიქარაGeorgian
- kaiminis audėjasLithuanian
- വില്ലേജ് വീവർMalayalam
- Grote TextorweverDutch
- landsbyveverNorwegian
- Flègtudó HelPapiamento
- wikłacz zmiennyPolish
- CanárioPortuguese
- Cacho-caldeirãoPortuguese
- tecelão-de-dorso-malhadoPortuguese
- tecelão-malhadoPortuguese
- Bellierrcf
- Деревенский ткачRussian
- Большой масковый ткачRussian
- GiligođđinloddiNorthern Sami
- pletiarka dedinskáSlovak
- vaški tkalecSlovenian
- Velika tekstor tkaljaSerbian
- byvävareSwedish
- Köy DokumacısıTurkish
- ThagaTswana
- ткачик великийUkrainian
- 黑头织雀Chinese
- 黑頭棲群織布鳥Chinese
- 黑頭織雀Chinese
- 黑頭群棲織布鳥Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataIUCN Red List
Relatives of the village weaver
Other species in the same genus Ploceus.
Baya weaver
Ploceus philippinus
Streaked weaver
Ploceus manyar
Cape weaver
Ploceus capensis
Southern masked weaver
Ploceus velatus
Black-breasted weaver
Ploceus benghalensis
Finn's weaver
Ploceus megarhynchus
CompareVillage weaver vs Baya weaverVillage weaver vs Streaked weaverVillage weaver vs Cape weaverVillage weaver vs Southern masked weaver
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the village weaver?
An adult village weaver weighs 33.4 g – 41.3 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Is the village weaver endangered?
The village weaver is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.
What kind of animal is the village weaver?
The village weaver (Ploceus cucullatus) belongs to the family Ploceidae in the order Passeriformes.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Village weaver (Ploceus cucullatus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/village-weaver
“Village weaver (Ploceus cucullatus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/village-weaver.
@misc{village_weaver_2026,
title = {Village weaver (Ploceus cucullatus)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/village-weaver},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}