Main content

Sociable Weaver

Sir David Attenborough presents the sociable weaver of the Kalahari Desert in Namibia.

Tweet of the Day is the voice of birds and our relationship with them, from around the world.

Sir David Attenborough presents the sociable weaver of the Kalahari Desert in Namibia. Travel through the dry margins of the Kalahari Desert and the telegraph poles stretching across the treeless plain could be wearing giant haystacks. These colossal communal homes are actually a home to the sociable weaver. These sparrow relatives build the largest nesting structure of any bird in the world. A hundred pairs may breed in a nest weighing nearly one tonne, built on isolated trees or any suitable man made structure such as pylons. Developed over generations these colonial nests provide a cooling structure during the searing heat of day and a warm refuge for night time roosts in this inhospitable landscape. Other animals find a use for these structures, from nesting vultures using it as a safe platform, to snakes; who if they enter the nest, can have free rein to this weaver larder.

Available now

1 minute

Last on

Fri 10 Jun 2022 05:58

Sociable Weaver (Philetairus socius)

Webpage image courtesy of Torsten Brehm / naturepl.com

NPL Ref  © Torsten Brehm / naturepl.com

Broadcasts

  • Mon 22 Sep 2014 05:58
  • Wed 10 Feb 2016 05:58
  • Tue 14 Jul 2020 05:58
  • Fri 10 Jun 2022 05:58

Podcast: Planet Puffin

Podcast: Planet Puffin

Exploring all things puffin - the silly and the serious, the scientific and the cultural.

Try this new podcast

Five stories of birds and birdsong are told by the people inspired by them.

Podcast