Baglafecht Weaver (Ploceus baglafecht) [XC352745]
by Frank Lambert from Agoro Agu Forest Reserve, Lamwo, Northern Region, Uganda (call)
Baglafecht Weaver (Ploceus baglafecht) [XC205894]
by Martin St-Michel from Lake Naivasha National Park, Nakuru, Kenya (song)
Subspecies
Has been thought to form a superspecies with Black-chinned Weaver (Ploceus nigrimentus) and Bertram's Weaver (Ploceus bertrandi), with Bannerman's Weaver (Ploceus bannermani) and Bates's Weaver (Ploceus batesi) regarded as part of same species group. Subspecies sometimes separated into four groups: "nominate group" (also with neumanni and eremobius) and "stuhlmanni group" (also with sharpii and nyikae), and two single-species groups represented by emini and reichenowi, respectively. These groups are sometimes treated as four distinct species, but the groups intergrade wherever they meet. Subspecies show some striking plumage differences, and this has been used by some authors as primary criterion for separating populations at species level. Also some degree of isolation where restricted to montane habitats, but no regional variations in song described. Several intermediates between populations have been proposed as additional subspecies: fricki (described from Sidamo, in Ethiopia) is currently synonymized with nominate, budongoensis (from Busindi, near Budongo, in western Uganda) with emini, and nigrotemporalis (from Mt Elgon, in eastern Uganda) with reichenowi.
The following 8 subspecies are recognised:
neumanni (Bannerman, 1923) - Eastern Nigeria, central Cameroon and western and north-eastern Central African Republic.
baglafecht (Daudin, 1802) - Western Eritrea and Ethiopian Highlands.
BirdLife International Species Factsheet