Yellow-crowned Bishop (Euplectes afer) - HBW 15, p. 143
French: Euplecte vorabé
Spanish: Obispo Coronigualdo
Other common names: Napoleon/Golden Bishop; Black-winged(!)/Taha Golden Bishop (taha)
Taxonomy: Loxia afra J. F. Gmelin, 1789, Africa = Senegal.
This species and E. diadematus have sometimes been placed in a separate genus, Taha, and considered to form a superspecies, but molecular data suggest that present species occupies a basal position within current genus, without close relatives. Has hybridized with E. franciscanus in captivity. Proposed race ladoensis (described from S Sudan) subsumed in taha; validity of niassensis, description of which based on a single female (from Mitomoni, in S Tanzania), uncertain, as specimen not now available. Three subspecies currently recognized.
Subspecies and Distribution:
- afer ( J. F. Gmelin, 1789) - S Mauritania, Gambia, coastal regions of Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea and Sierra Leone, NE Ivory Coast, riverine areas of Mali, Burkina Faso, N parts of Ghana, Togo and Benin, SW Niger, N & C Nigeria, N, C & W Cameroon, N Central African Republic, W Sudan and Nile Valley, S to PRCongo along rivers, N DRCongo, and W Angola (Luanda region); sporadic records from Liberia, Chad, Gabon and Uganda.
- strictus Hartlaub, 1857 - highland plateau of C Ethiopia.
- taha A. Smith, 1836 - S Sudan, S Somalia, W Kenya, C Tanzania, SE DRCongo, S Angola, SW & N Zambia, N Namibia, N & E Botswana, W Zimbabwe, E South Africa and Lesotho lowlands; occasional records from Swaziland and Mozambique.
- Least Concern Enlarge map
A male and female perched. Locality Marakissa, Western Division, The Gambia (ssp afer)
Yoel Jimenez 2 November 2014 34 weeks ago 28 sec 3.8
A male in breeding plumage. Locality Kartong, Western Division, The Gambia (ssp afer)
Yoel Jimenez 11 November 2014 29 weeks ago 39 sec 3.7
A male in breeding plumage on top of a small bush. Locality Abuko Rice Fields, Abuko, Western Division, The Gambia (ssp afer)
Pieter de Groot Boersma 1 November 2008 6 years ago 21 sec 3
Dorsal view of a male on a wire, and then ventral view of a male Southern Masked Weaver (Ploceus velatus), both in breeding plum Locality KwaZulu Natal Province, South Africa (Monotypic species)
Helmut Schenkel Brunner 31 December 2001 7 years ago 18 sec 2.9
PhotosSee all 21 photos
A male perched in a reed
Locality Lisbon Region, Portugal
Jose Viana 2 June 2008 5 years ago 4.3
Male perched on a wire.
Locality Wakkerstroom, Mpumalanga Province, South Africa (ssp taha)
Adam Riley 3 February 2007 42 weeks ago 4
Didier Collin 1 July 2008 1 year ago 4
Didier Collin 14 July 2008 1 year ago 4
Adult male in breeding plumage perched
Locality Kabak Island, Kindia Region, Guinea (ssp afer)
Nik Borrow 12 October 2011 3 years ago 4
Napoleonweber (Euplectes afer)
lambrigger 42 weeks ago 3.8