New records of Fox’s Weaver Ploceus spekeoides significantly disrupt perceptions concerning its conservation status

Abstract

IUCN Red List categorisation helps prioritise species conservation efforts. Fox’s Weaver Ploceus spekeoides is a little-known passerine endemic to eastern Uganda and categorised as Near Threatened. Historical records (1913–1996) of this bird span nine sub-counties in the country, but more recent evidence (1998–2024) from field surveys, citizen science reports and the literature has added 16 more. In contrast, the revised estimate of this weaver’s extent of occurrence (EOO) of 25 171 km², using all certain records of the species, is 24.5% smaller than that given by the IUCN (33 300 km²). Hence, the question arises whether the species’ categorisation should be changed. Recent surveys point to Fox’s Weaver being confined to seasonally flooded wooded grasslands, where it is associated with whistling thorn Vachellia drepanolobium, which is frequently cut for firewood and cleared for farmland within its limited range in Uganda. Moreover, only 8 of the 25 sub-counties have an overlap with Uganda’s protected area network in the northeastern part of the country, namely the Bokora, Matheniko and Pian-Upe wildlife reserves. However, the northern and western areas of the species’ revised EOO polygon are ornithologically poorly known and possibly hold considerable populations. Therefore a detailed study of the species to clarify its ecological niche and a broader survey to establish a robust distributional and population baseline are recommended before a Red List reclassification is considered.