The Baya weaver (Ploceus philippinus) is a weaverbird best known for the elaborately woven nests constructed by the males. These birds spend their time in flocks and build their nest near water or place them hanging over water where predators cannot reach easily.
These are sparrow-sized birds and in their non-breeding plumage, both males and females resemble female House sparrows. They have a stout conical bill and a short square tail. Non-breeding males and females look very similar: dark brown streaked fulvous buff above, plain (unstreaked) whitish fulvous below, eyebrow long and buff-colored, the bill is horn coloured, and no mask. Breeding males have a bright yellow crown, dark brown mask, and blackish brown bill, upper parts are dark brown streaked with yellow, with a yellow breast and cream buff below.
Baya weavers are found across the Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia. These birds do not migrate but may perform local, seasonal movements mainly in response to rain and food availability. Baya weavers prefer to live in grasslands, cultivated areas, scrub, and secondary growth.
Baya weavers are social and gregarious birds. They forage during the day in flocks, both on the plants and on the ground. Flocks fly in close formations, often performing complicated maneuvers. They roost in reedbeds bordering waterbodies. Baya weavers may also sometimes descend to the ground and indulge in dust bathing. Their calls are a continuous ‘chit-chit-...’ sometimes ending in a wheezy ‘cheee-eee-ee’ that is produced by males in a chorus. A lower-intensity call is produced in the non-breeding season.
Baya weavers are considered omnivorous birds. However, adults are mainly granivorous and feed on various seeds and glean paddy and other grain in harvested fields. These birds also supplement their diet with insects (including butterflies) and sometimes take small frogs, geckos, and mollusks, especially to feed their young.
Baya weavers are polygynous and don’t form pairs; males build many partial nests and begin courting females. The breeding season takes place during the monsoons. Baya weavers nest in colonies typically of up to 20-30 individuals, close to the source of food, nesting material, and water. Males build pendulous nests that are retort-shaped, with a central nesting chamber and a long vertical tube that leads to a side entrance to the chamber. The nests are woven with long strips of paddy leaves, rough grasses, and long strips torn from palm fronds. Each strip can be between 20 and 60 cm (7.9 and 23.6 in) in length. To complete a nest a male takes about 18 days and makes up to 500 trips. The birds use their strong beaks to strip and collect the strands and to weave and knot them while building their nests. The nests are often built hanging over water from palm trees and often suspended from thorny Acacias and in some cases from telephone wires. The females inspect the nest and signal their acceptance of a male; after that, the male goes on to complete the nest by adding the entrance tunnel. Females may modify the interiors or add blobs of mud. The female lays about 2-4 white eggs and incubates them for about 14 to 17 days. Males may sometimes assist in feeding the chicks. The chicks leave the nest after about 17 days. After mating with a female the male typically court other females at other partially constructed nests. Young birds leave the nest in juvenile plumage which is replaced in their first molt after about 4-6 months. The young usually disperse to new locations not far from their nest. Females start to breed after a year while males take half a year longer.
Baya weavers don’t face any major threats at present.
According to IUCN Red List, the Baya weaver is locally common and widespread throughout its range but no overall population estimate is available. Currently, this species is classified as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List, and its numbers today remain stable.
