''Euplectes'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

passerine A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped') which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines generally have an anisodactyl arrangement of their ...

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

in the

weaver Weaver or Weavers may refer to: Activities * A person who engages in weaving fabric Animals * Various birds of the family Ploceidae * Crevice weaver spider family * Orb-weaver spider family * Weever (or weever-fish) Arts and entertainmen ...

family, Ploceidae, that contains the bishops and widowbirds. They are all native to Africa south of the

Sahara The Sahara (, ) is a desert spanning across North Africa. With an area of , it is the largest hot desert in the world and the list of deserts by area, third-largest desert overall, smaller only than the deserts of Antarctica and the northern Ar ...

. It is believed that all birds in the genus are probably

polygynous Polygyny () is a form of polygamy entailing the marriage of a man to several women. The term polygyny is from Neoclassical Greek πολυγυνία (); . Incidence Polygyny is more widespread in Africa than in any other continent. Some scholar ...

. The genus ''Euplectes'' was introduced by the English naturalist

William Swainson William Swainson Fellow of the Linnean Society, FLS, Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (8 October 1789 – 6 December 1855), was an English ornithologist, Malacology, malacologist, Conchology, conchologist, entomologist and artist. Life Swains ...

in 1829 with the

southern red bishop The southern red bishop or red bishop (''Euplectes orix'') is a small passerine bird belonging to the bishop and widowbird genus ''Euplectes'' in the weaver family, the Ploceidae. It is common in wetlands and grassland in Africa south of the Equa ...

as the

type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...

. The name combines the

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

''eu'' meaning "fine" or "good" with the

Neo-Latin Neo-LatinSidwell, Keith ''Classical Latin-Medieval Latin-Neo Latin'' in ; others, throughout. (also known as New Latin and Modern Latin) is the style of written Latin used in original literary, scholarly, and scientific works, first in Italy d ...

''plectes'' meaning "weaver". When choosing their mates, females within this genus will often choose males with longer tail lengths, even in species with comparatively shorter tail lengths.

Species

The genus contains 18 species.

Aviculture

The

yellow-crowned bishop The yellow-crowned bishop (''Euplectes afer'') is a species of passerine bird in the family Ploceidae native to Africa south of the Sahara. It is highly sexually dimorphic in its breeding season, during which the male adopts a distinctive yellow ...

and

northern red bishop The northern red bishop or orange bishop (''Euplectes franciscanus'') is a small passerine bird in the family Ploceidae. It is part of the largest genus in the family with over 60 different species.Arkhipov, Vladimir Yu, Leon A Bennun, David Brew ...

are popular in

aviculture Aviculture is the practice of keeping and breeding birds, especially of wild birds in captivity. Aviculture Aviculture is the practice of keeping birds (class '' Aves'') in captivity in controlled conditions, normally within the confines of a ...

References

External links

* * Bird genera Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Taxa named by William Swainson {{Ploceidae-stub