photographs: Dubi Shapiro, Paul van Giersbergen, Gareth Knass

Found in parts of Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo, The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and Ghana, these birds live in forests and wetlands. Foraging in pairs or small flocks, sometimes with other species, they eat mostly insects, along with some fruit. They build their nests cooperatively with one female and several males working together to weave a round nest with a long, downward facing entrance tunnel from palm frond strips in a palm or other tree. One of the males remains with the female, incubating the eggs and caring for the chicks with her.

These weavers are found across central Africa from Senegal east to western Uganda. They eat mostly arthropods, including caterpillars, ants, and grasshoppers, along with some seeds and fruits. Males build ball-shaped nests from palm fibers, twigs, and other plant materials, sometimes in loose colonies. Females incubate the eggs alone.

Read an excerpt from chapter six of Birdsong After the Storm: 'Dawn breaks across Nokoué Lake' I am immersed in writing Birdsong and have little extra time to look out at the world.