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'Victoria' Masked Weaver , Uganda, Lake Bunyonyi, August 2015

Nik Borrow
The identity of the masked weavers that are increasingly being found in the swamps of Uganda is still a mystery waiting to be solved. Bearing a superficial resemblance to Northern Masked Weaver they are presumably the population originally described by John Ash as Victoria (or Entebbe) Masked Weaver that was later dismissed as a hybrid. Only one problem there are colonies of these hybrids! another problem is that they seem to show variable black masks and eye colour ranging from grey to brown. Somebody needs to get some DNA work done on these!

© Nik Borrow

'Victoria' Masked Weaver
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The identity of the masked weavers that are increasingly being found in the swamps of Uganda is still a mystery waiting to be solved. Bearing a superficial resemblance to Northern Masked Weaver they are presumably the population originally described by John Ash as Victoria (or Entebbe) Masked Weaver that was later dismissed as a hybrid. Only one problem there are colonies of these hybrids! another problem is that they seem to show variable black masks and eye colour ranging from grey to brown. Somebody needs to get some DNA work done on these!', 'imgname' => '20150904105600247.jpg', 'send_as_postcard' => '1', 'can_others_email_you' => '1', 'allow_copy' => '1', ), 'image_info' => false, 'user' => array ( 'email' => 'n.borrow@btinternet.com', 'fullname' => 'Nik Borrow', 'display_email' => '0', 'web' => 'http://www.nikborrow.com', 'biography' => 'Nik Borrow (Website: http://www.nikborrow.com) is an acclaimed bird artist whose illustrations have appeared in many magazines and journals and he is also co-author and sole illustrator of the award-winning "Birds of Western Africa" published by A&C Black. Other works include "Birds of Ghana" and "Birds of Senegal & The Gambia". He has traveled extensively in Africa and is an acknowledged expert on the regions avifauna. After studying Fine Art painting at Wimbledon School of Art he subsequently taught Art for many years at Pimlico School. Since 1992 he has been leading birdwatching tours and safaris for the specialist birding holiday company Birdquest', 'professionality' => '0', 'country' => 'England', 'avatar_name' => NULL, ), )