A small water feature at our picnic lunch stop attracted many birds. Weavers in the genus Ploceus can be very difficult to identify. In this species, breeding males have a distinct black mask, but during the non-breeding season, they resemble females. I identified this Lesser Masked-Weaver by its light eye combined with its blue-gray legs and feet. The pale bill and pale underparts of this individual suggest that it is an immature. Juveniles should have dark eyes so I believe this is an older immature. Full adults have a black bill.
Clements introduced the hyphen in the spelling of "Masked-Weaver" in the 5th edition, but most other authorities have not adopted this spelling and do not hyphenate its English name.
Digiscoped with Panasonic DMC-LX5 | Nikon FieldScope III | 30XWA | hand-held (no adapter).