The Fox’s Weaver Conservation Programme
NatureUganda is working to conserve the Fox’s Weaver Ploceus spekeoides Uganda’s only endemic bird species (Byaruhanga et al, 2001, and Carswell et al, 2005). The species is named after Harold Munro Fox an English Zoologist who first collected the species in 1913 at Usuk and Ngarium, Katakwi district during July and August. However, it was not until 1947, that his specimens were recognized as a new species different from the Speke’s Weaver (Ploceus spekei) by Capt. C. H. B. Grant and C. W. Mackworth-Praed.
The Challenge
The Fox’s Weaver is poorly documented, this iconic species is restricted to North-eastern Uganda where it has been recorded a handful of times over the years. Efforts to conserve the Fox’s Weaver both in the past and present are greatly limited by the lack of knowledge on the ecology and distribution of the species.
Approach
To bridge this gap, NatureUganda has conducted surveys in North-eastern Uganda since 2015 to document key habitats for the species with the aim of identifying priority areas for the conservation of the Fox’s Weaver.
NatureUganda is also working to promote Avi-tourism among the communities living within and around key Fox’s Weaver habitats through training of local bird guides in bird identification, and ethical bird watching.
Project Achievements
A total of Eight (8) field surveys have been conducted since 2015, the Fox’s Weaver has been recorded at Six Districts i.e. Soroti, Amuria, Katakwi, Napak, Kween, Nakapiripirit and Pian-Upe Wildlife Reserve from all surveys except the one conducted in 2015. These surveys have generated the first documented records of the Fox’s Weaver from the Karamoja region 1st at Iriiri, Napak in 2019 and subsequently from within Pian-Upe Wildlife Reserve and Nakapiripirit District.
Breeding habitats for the species have been identified at Magoro, Chepsikunya and Okudud at the border between Pian-Upe WR and Nakapiripirit District
Two community Groups one in the Teso region and another in the Karamoja region have been trained in bird guiding and equipped with bird guide books and binoculars to promote community based avi-tourism centred on the Fox’s Weaver as a way of improving community livelihood and providing and incentive for the community to protect the species and the habitats on which it thrives.
Survey Reports (PDFs)