NSSB

Baya weaver

by · January 10, 2017

Baya Weaver, Photo: Ikbal H. Babu

বাবুই / বাউই

Ploceus philippinus , (Linnaeus, 1766)

রাজ্য / Kingdom: Animalia
বর্গ / Order: Passeriformes
পরিবার / Family: Ploceidae
গন / Genus: Ploceus
প্রজাতি / Species: P. philippinus

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Description

One of the commonly seen birds in our country. Weighing around 18-28 g and 15 cm in length, this bird is famous for its nest building ability.

Female and non-breeding male has dark-streaked fulvous brown color above and plain whitish fulvous below. It has a stout conical bill, short square-cut tail and long buffy eyebrows.

Breeding male has dark brown with yellow streaked upperparts and yellow breast. Underparts is cream buff. It has a bright yellow brown and dark brown mask.

Call: Sparrow like chit-chit-chit followed by long drawn joyous chee-ee accompanied by flapping of wings (breeding male).

Food habit: Seeds of grass, rice, wheat, sorghum, maire, sunflower etc. Grasshoppers, flies, termites, beetle, caterpillar, butterfly, nectar, spiders, small snails, frogs etc. are on the menu. They usually forge by forming flocks ranging from small as many as 4-5 to large.

Nesting: Nesting season is mainly May- September which coincides with monsoon and paddy cultivation.

Male alone builds the nest. The nest is a swinging retort shaped structure with long vertical entrance tube, compactly woven out of strips of paddy leaf and rough edged grass usually over water. Each of the strips can range from 20-60 cm. Blobs of mud are stuck inside the dome near the egg chamber.

Eggs are 2-4 in number; pure white. Female only incubates.

Habitat: Grasslands, scrub with scattered trees, mangroves, cultivated lands, open country near water body.

Distribution: Throughout Indian region, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Myanmar, Sri Lanka. It is a  resident and locally migrant in these regions.

Reference:

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