The Weavers are small passerine birds mainly found in Africa with a few species in Asia. Hybridization has been documented in four genera, Ploceus, Malimbus, Foudia and Euplectes.
Colahan and Craig (1981) give an overview of hybrids in the genus Euplectes that have been produced in captivity. Here are the hybrids they list:
- White-winged Widowbird (E. albonotatus) x Southern Red Bishop (E. orix)
- Red-collared Widowbird (E. ardens) x Yellow-mantled Widowbird (E. macrourus)
- Fan-tailed Widowbird (E. axillaris) x Yellow-mantled Widowbird (E. macrourus)
- Fan-tailed Widowbird (E. axillaris) x Yellow Bishop (E. capensis)
- Northern Red Bishop (E. franciscanus) x Yellow-crowned Bishop (E. afer)
A phylogenetic analysis of Finch-like Weavers (Foudia), which are endemic to the western Indian Islands, explained mismatches between taxonomy, mtDNA and nDNA by introgressive hybridization. Coalescent analyses put the date of admixture at a minimum of 235 years ago (Warren et al., 2012).
On the Aldabra Atoll (Seychelles), hybridization between the Aldabra Fody (F. aldabrana) and the non-native Madagascar Fody (F. madagascariensis) has been confirmed (van de Crommenacker et al., 2015).
Colahan, B. D. & Craig, A. (1981). Euplectes Hybrids. Ostrich 52, 58-59.
van de Crommenacker, J., Bourgeois, Y. X. C., Warren, B. H., Jackson, H., Fleischer-Dogley, F., Groombridge, J. & Bunbury, N. (2015). Using molecular tools to guide management of invasive alien species: assessing the genetic impact of a recently introduced island bird population. Diversity and Distributions 21, 1414-1427
Warren, B. H., Bermingham, E., Bourgeois, Y., Estep, L. K., Prys-Jones, R. P., Strasberg, D. & Thebaud, C. (2012). Hybridization and Barriers to Gene Flow in an Island Bird Radiation. Evolution 66, 1490-1505.