Scaly-Feathered Weaver

The Scaly-feathered weaver is a very small, sandy-colored finch-like weaver with a scaly crown, a pale pink bill, and a black moustache on a white throat that gives it a fierce-looking expression. Small groups are resident and nomadic in grassy arid savanna, where there are trees and scrub nearby in which to build their untidy oval grass nests. The species sometimes gives a soft, reedy “cheet-cheet-cheet” flight call. 

This species inhabits dry Vachellia (formerly Acacia) savanna, arid scrub, and bush along dry watercourses, parks, and shrubs near houses. It is found in pairs or flocks of up to 20 birds, and regularly flocks with waxbills. It roosts communally in a nest throughout the year, with up to 12 birds using one nest to keep warm on cold winter nights. It forages on the ground, feeding mainly on small seeds, with insects being fed to the young. It drinks when water is available, but remarkably, it can survive for months without drinking; instead relying on the production of metabolic water from its diet.

The Scaly Weaver is monogamous, and some courtship behavior resembles that of waxbills. It is suspected to be a cooperative breeder, but this needs to be confirmed. Its nest is an untidy, dome-shaped mass of grass stems and grass seed heads, which is used for roosting and breeding purposes. There is usually one active nest, but often old nests may be present. The nest is placed in trees or bushes, 1–4 m above the ground. Incubation is by the female, while both sexes feed the nestlings.