Ploceidae

Ploceidae is a family of small Old World passerine birds, many of them called weavers, weaverbirds, weaver finches or bishops for their elaborately woven nests of leaf fiber, grass and twigs. The family comprises 16 genera and 122 species, found predominantly in sub-Saharan Africa with some species in tropical Asia and a handful introduced elsewhere. Many weavers breed colonially, with males weaving intricate nests to attract females, and some species build communal structures that house hundreds of breeding pairs; the family is thought to have originated in the mid-Miocene, with its common ancestor with related families dating to roughly 18 million years ago.