Birding column: Sociable weaver: a Northern Cape icon

Driving along any major route in the Northern Cape, one cannot help but be drawn to large, spectacular nests on roadside telephone poles or thorn trees. These are the communal nests of the sociable weaver (Philetairus socius; Afrikaans: versamelvoël) a species that belongs to the weaver family and only occurs in South Africa, Namibia and…...