Food, clothing and shelter have always figured prominently in man’s scheme of things, with the last given utmost importance. It appears that birds share a similar sentiment, at least with regard to shelter. This particular bird builds one nest after another till one meets with his lady love’s approval. And what an intricately designed home it is! What it lacks in size, it makes up in industriousness. Know which bird we
are talking about? It’s a cute little bird known to build the most ornate of nests and is known as the baya weaver.
These birds are found in India and south-east Asia. Bearing the scientific name Ploceus philippinus, they belong to the family Plocceidae (weaver birds).
The baya weaver resembles the house sparrow in size, beak, appearance and flight. These birds can be confused with another species called the streaked weaver. Streaked weavers are different because of the predominant stripes on their bodies and their nesting habitat in reed beds near lakes.
On the outskirts of my village, along the canal edges next to the paddy fields, where there is a dense and beautiful habitat, I often hear a continuous and noisy chorus – “chee…chee…” and I realise that there is a baya weaver colony nearby. I stop and find the nests, as many as two dozen hanging on the thorny acacia tree, with baya weavers sporting grass strands in their beak, busy weaving away.
Every 100 metres or so, I see another nesting colony, sometimes on one side of the canal, sometimes on the other. They also nest on small trees that grow in the shade of large trees. Along lake edges, they hide in the bushes that grow there, making their nests there too.
Their nests are a marvel. Some of them are hung on the edge of branches all over the tree and some are so close to the canal waters that just a foot or two separates them. This way the nests are protected from predators. I have seen crows and snakes try to reach the nests but in vain.
The male is at it with long grass strands, still a tender green, plucked from the nearby paddy fields. He is a master craftsman and bird watchers have admired his knitting skills. He lands straight on the half completed nest and goes into it. After some time he re-appears near the opening and flies off to bring another strand.
Some nests have two entrances in the building stage. The shape of the nests is known as retard shape and the main chamber is in the centre of the nest.
The male in breeding plumage has a bright yellow crown and brown mask but during the non-breeding stages, the male and female look alike.
The male makes several journeys, going to and fro to get nest material, and spending two whole weeks before the nest is finally ready. The female just watches the nests, inspecting and settling for the best.
Once the nest is complete, it will have only one entrance from the bottom of the nest which is tubular. When a male baya weaver nest is rejected by the female the male abandons it and starts building another in order to please her. It is known to build up to four nests during a breeding season.
The female selects the ideal nest and lives with the male that built the nest. The female lays up to four eggs in it and incubates them.
I have recorded an abandoned baya weaver nest being used by a munia bird for nesting.
Often, I have seen the baya weaver swaying on standing paddy crops and feeding on germinating rice grains. Sometimes in the evening, I see the majority of the weaver colony assemble near the sugar- cane fields sitting on the shoots and swaying in the evening light.
In summer, I see them hop on the ground and eat seeds. They also eat insects and sometimes small reptiles. Though the baya weavers feed on rice grains, farmers live in harmony with these birds.
One day at dusk, I saw these rather gregarious birds take off from a bamboo tree and fly into the sky in hundreds, making strange patterns.
Conservation and Threats
The baya weaver has adapted to living on the trees beside manually dug out canals. But with the latter getting a concrete makeover, which in turn discourages trees from growing at its edges, the master builder has lost most of its major habitat.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) lists the baya weaver conservation status as Least Concern.