Widespread in small and large
patches across Sub-Saharan
Africa...chunky and short-tailed.
Euplectes axillaris
(L 6")
Road from Masai Mara
to Kisumu
25Oct2014
Named after the “lady-in-
black-mourning” plumage.
A widow bird sate mourning for her Love
Upon a wintry bough;
The frozen wind crept on above,
The freezing stream below.
(Percy Bysshe Shelley)
Euplectes in Greek means good
woven; axillaris is Latin for
armpit, shoulders, or wing.
© Peter
Kaestner
Macaulay
Library