Finn's Weaver
| Finn's Weaver | |
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| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Ploceidae |
| Genus: | Ploceus |
| Species: | P. megarhynchus |
| Binomial name | |
| Ploceus megarhynchus Hume, 1869 |
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Finn's Weaver or Finn's Baya (Ploceus megarhynchus) is a species of weaver bird found in the Ganges and Brahmaputra valleys in India and Nepal. Two races are known; the nominate from the Kumaon area and salimalii from the eastern Terai.
The species was named by Hume based on a specimen obtained at Kaladhungi near Nainital. The species was rediscovered in the Terai near Calcutta by Frank Finn.[1] Oates called it "The Eastern Baya" in 1889 and Stuart Baker called it Finn's Baya in the second edition (1925) of the Fauna of British India.[2][3]
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[edit] Distribution and habitat
The habitat of Finn's Weaver is tall grassland, typically seasonally inundated swamps covered with Phragmites reeds or Typha, but also grasslands with Saccharum spontaneum and well-scattered trees, occasionally interspersed with patchy rice and sugarcane cultivation. They are endemic to eastern Nepal and Assam, to the Terai of the northern Indian subcontinent, where it is known from disjunct populations in Delhi and northern Uttar Pradesh and adjacent extreme western Nepal.[4] It has always been very locally distributed, and the disappearance of several colonies in recent decades indicates that it is declining. The recently discovered population in Nepal is estimated at less than 50 birds, and is erratic in occurrence. It has been recorded from Kaziranga National Park, Manas National Park, Jaldapara National Park, Corbett National Park.[5][6]
Finn's Weaver is a fairly common resident in the Sukla Phanta Wildlife Reserve, which represents the eastern limit of its distribution.[7]
[edit] Ecology
Finn's Weavers are gregarious and forage in flocks.[5] They feed mostly on seeds, sometimes also forage on fallen seed on roadsides. They also take insects.
They breed from May to September and build nests on top of trees, in reeds or extensive stands of tall grass.[5] The nest is different in structure from the other weaver species found in India, but as in other weavers, woven from thin strips of leaves and reeds. This species lines the entire inside of the nest, unlike the other weavers, which line only the floor of the nest. Males strip the leaves of the nest tree, making the globular nests clearly visible.
Males are successively polygamous, mating with 1 to 4 females. The clutch size is 2 to 4 eggs. The female alone incubates and the egg hatches in 14 to 15 days.
[edit] References
- ^ Beolens, B., Watkins, M.. Whose bird? Men and women commemorated in the common names of birds.. Christopher Helm. (Note: this source incorrectly notes that Finn collected the Kaladhungi specimen. The type specimen was collected for or by Hume and Finn was still a child.)
- ^ Baker, ECS (1925). Fauna of British India. Birds. Volume 3 (2 ed.). London: Taylor and Francis. pp. 69-70. http://www.archive.org/stream/BakerFbiBirds3/BakerFBI3#page/n90/mode/1up.
- ^ Oates, EW (1890). Fauna of British India. Birds. Volume 2. London: Taylor and Francis. pp. 177-178. http://www.archive.org/stream/birdsindia02oaterich#page/176/mode/1up.
- ^ Baral, H.S. (1998) Finn's Baya Ploceus megarhynchus and Singing Bushlark Mirafra cantillans: two new species for Nepal. Forktail, 13:129-131.
- ^ a b c BirdLife International (2009) Species factsheet: Ploceus megarhynchus. BirdLife International: Yellow Weaver
- ^ Abdulali, H. (1960) A new race of Finn's Baya, Ploceus megarhynchus Hume. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 57(3): 659-662.
- ^ Baral, H.S., Inskipp, C. (2009) The Birds of Sukla Phanta Wildlife Reserve, Nepal. Our Nature (2009) 7: 56-81 download pdf
[edit] Other references
- Abdulali, H. (1952) Finn's Baya Ploceus megarhynchus (Hume). J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 51(1): 200-204.
- Abdulali, H. (1954) More notes on Finn's Baya (Ploceus megarhynchus). J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 52(2&3): 599-601.
- Abdulali, H. (1961) The nesting habits of the eastern race of Finn's Baya Ploceus megarhynchus salimalii (Abdulali). J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 58(1): 269-270.
- Ali, S. (1935) Mainly in quest of Finn's Baya. Indian Forester 41(6): 365-374.
- Ali, S., Crook, J. H. (1959) Observations on Finn's Baya (Ploceus megarhynchus Hume) rediscovered in the Kumaon terai, 1959. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 56(3): 457-483.
- Ambedkar, V.C. (1968) Observations on the breeding biology of Finn's Baya (Ploceus megarhynchus Hume) in the Kumaon Terai. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 65(3): 596-607.
- Hart, W.C. (1937) Finn's Baya Ploceus megarhyncheus Hume). Indian Forester 43(1): 45-46.
- O'Donell, H.V. (1916) The Eastern Baya Ploceus megarynchus nesting in the same tree as the Jungle Bee Apis indicus. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 24(4): 821.
- Rai, Y. M. (1979) Observations on Finn's Baya breeding near Meerut. Newsletter for Birdwatchers. 19(11): 11.
- Rai, Y.M. (1979) Finn's Baya breeding at Meerut. Newsletter for Birdwatchers. 19(7): 11.
- Rai, Y.M. (1983) Hastinapur birds: Finn's Baya; Tawny Eagle; Crested Honey-Buzzard. Newsletter for Birdwatchers. 23(7-8): 14-15.
- Saha, S.S. (1967) The Finn's Baya Ploceus megarhynchus Hume [Aves: Passeriformes: Ploceidae] and its breeding colony near Calcutta. Proc. Zool. Soc. Calcutta 20: 181-185.
- Saha, S.S. (1976) Occurrence of Finn's Baya (Ploceus megarhynchus Hume) in Darrang District, Assam. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 73(3): 527-529.
[edit] External links
- BirdLife International: Yellow Weaver
- IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2010: Ploceus megarhynchus
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