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Spanish
In our most recent edition of TODO Casa de Campo (magazine guide for the Casa de Campo resort), we brought you an “Everyday guide to bird-spotting in Casa”, a simple guide to enjoying the many different species found across the resort. In this series of posts “Birds of Casa de Campo” we’ll be bringing you more in-depth insights into all these incredible creatures.
Birds of Hispaniola
The island of Hispaniola, shared between Dominican Republic Haiti, has more than 300 different bird species, of which 32 are endemic, meaning that in the entire world, this is the only place they can be found; so pay attention and let’s take a look at another bird species found in Casa de Campo.
The Village Weaver
The Village Weaver, in Spanish the “Madam Sagá” is another interesting species that calls the Dye Fore (as well as the La Romana Country club course) home, these birds are easy to spot as they live together in great colonies and make small woven nests in the shape of little balls.
Colonies of Village Weavers can be also be found at various other locations around Casa de Campo. For example, close by to the Casa de Campo hotel there is a tree with another colony.
The nests these birds make are spectacular. Generally pieces are woven with palm leaves – a job done exclusively by the males.
Madame Sagá nest in Casa de Campo
The male and female of this species are very easy to distinguish, the male is yellow with a black head and a green tail, and the female has an olive colored back, yellow wings with a black and pale yellow belly. The juveniles look like the female but are browner on the back.
Another interesting characteristic of the Village Weavers is that they make a lot of noise – so if you are a Casa de Campo golfer, try not to let them distract you from your swing!
The Village Weaver profile
- It is a dumpy bird with a heavy peak.
- Generally, the male is completely orange-yellow with a black hood, brown nape and red iris.
- Typically, the female is yellow-green, this being more vivid color in the face and chest.
- The Village Weaver ranges 17 cm in length, male 45 g and female 37 g of weight.
- The Village Weaver is not endemic to the Dominican Republic, but an introduced species.
- It nests in noisy colonies with an average of 75 nests.
- They lay between 2 to 4 pale green/blue-green eggs.
- They reproduce between mid April and September.
This is the fourth article of our series “Birds of Casa de Campo”, in future articles you can look forward to reading about: American Kestrel and much more.
Click here to read part 1: The Hispaniolan Parakeets of the Teeth of the Dog
Click here to read part 2: The Brown Pelican
Click here to read part 3: The Hispaniolan Woodpeckers