Finn's Weaver
Encyclopedia
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
and the species was given the common name of Finn's Baya by Eugene William Oates
around 1889-90.
, 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 India
n subcontinent, where it is known from disjunct populations in Delhi and northern Uttar Pradesh
and adjacent extreme western Nepal. 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.
Finn's Weaver is a fairly common resident in the Sukla Phanta Wildlife Reserve
, which represents the eastern limit of its distribution.
They breed from May to September and build nests on top of trees, in reeds or extensive stands of tall grass. 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.
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
and Nepal
Nepal
Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
. Two races are known; the nominate from the Kumaon area and salimalii from the eastern Terai
Terai
The Terai is a belt of marshy grasslands, savannas, and forests located south of the outer foothills of the Himalaya, the Siwalik Hills, and north of the Indo-Gangetic Plain of the Ganges, Brahmaputra and their tributaries. The Terai belongs to the Terai-Duar savanna and grasslands ecoregion...
.
The species was named by Hume
Allan Octavian Hume
Allan Octavian Hume was a civil servant, political reformer and amateur ornithologist in British India. He was one of the founders of the Indian National Congress, a political party that was later to lead the Indian independence movement...
based on a specimen obtained at Kaladhungi near Nainital. The species was rediscovered in the Terai
Terai
The Terai is a belt of marshy grasslands, savannas, and forests located south of the outer foothills of the Himalaya, the Siwalik Hills, and north of the Indo-Gangetic Plain of the Ganges, Brahmaputra and their tributaries. The Terai belongs to the Terai-Duar savanna and grasslands ecoregion...
near Calcutta by Frank Finn
Frank Finn
Frank Finn FZS, MBOU was an English ornithologist.Finn was born in Maidstone and educated at Maidstone Grammar School and Brasenose College, Oxford. He went on a collecting expedition to East Africa in 1892, and became First Assistant Superintendent of the Indian Museum, Calcutta in 1894, and...
and the species was given the common name of Finn's Baya by Eugene William Oates
Eugene William Oates
Eugene William Oates was an English naturalist.Oates was born in Sicily and educated in Bath, England. For a time he attended Sydney College, Bath and later under private tutors. He was a civil servant in the Public Works Department in India and Burma from 1867 to 1899...
around 1889-90.
Distribution and habitat
The habitat of Finn's Weaver is tall grasslandGrassland
Grasslands are areas where the vegetation is dominated by grasses and other herbaceous plants . However, sedge and rush families can also be found. Grasslands occur naturally on all continents except Antarctica...
, typically seasonally inundated swamps covered with Phragmites
Phragmites
Phragmites, the Common reed, is a large perennial grass found in wetlands throughout temperate and tropical regions of the world. Phragmites australis is sometimes regarded as the sole species of the genus Phragmites, though some botanists divide Phragmites australis into three or four species...
reeds or Typha
Typha
Typha is a genus of about eleven species of monocotyledonous flowering plants in the family Typhaceae. The genus has a largely Northern Hemisphere distribution, but is essentially cosmopolitan, being found in a variety of wetland habitats...
, but also grasslands with Saccharum spontaneum and well-scattered trees, occasionally interspersed with patchy rice
Rice
Rice is the seed of the monocot plants Oryza sativa or Oryza glaberrima . As a cereal grain, it is the most important staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and the West Indies...
and sugarcane
Sugarcane
Sugarcane refers to any of six to 37 species of tall perennial grasses of the genus Saccharum . Native to the warm temperate to tropical regions of South Asia, they have stout, jointed, fibrous stalks that are rich in sugar, and measure two to six metres tall...
cultivation. They are endemic to eastern Nepal
Nepal
Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
and Assam
Assam
Assam , also, rarely, Assam Valley and formerly the Assam Province , is a northeastern state of India and is one of the most culturally and geographically distinct regions of the country...
, to the Terai
Terai
The Terai is a belt of marshy grasslands, savannas, and forests located south of the outer foothills of the Himalaya, the Siwalik Hills, and north of the Indo-Gangetic Plain of the Ganges, Brahmaputra and their tributaries. The Terai belongs to the Terai-Duar savanna and grasslands ecoregion...
of the northern India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n subcontinent, where it is known from disjunct populations in Delhi and northern Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh abbreviation U.P. , is a state located in the northern part of India. With a population of over 200 million people, it is India's most populous state, as well as the world's most populous sub-national entity...
and adjacent extreme western Nepal. 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
Kaziranga National Park
Kaziranga National Park is a national park in the Golaghat and Nagaon districts of the state of Assam, India. A World Heritage Site, the park hosts two-thirds of the world's Great One-horned Rhinoceroses. Kaziranga boasts the highest density of tigers among protected areas in the world and was...
, Manas National Park
Manas National Park
Manas National Park or Manas Wildlife Sanctuary is a Wildlife Sanctuary, UNESCO Natural World Heritage site, a Project Tiger Reserve, an Elephant Reserve and a Biosphere Reserve in Assam, India. Located in the Himalayan foothills, it is contiguous with the Royal Manas National park in Bhutan...
, Jaldapara National Park, Corbett National Park.
Finn's Weaver is a fairly common resident in the Sukla Phanta Wildlife Reserve
Sukla Phanta Wildlife Reserve
Sukla Phanta Wildlife Reserve is a protected area in the Terai of the Far-Western Region, Nepal, covering of open grassland, forests, riverbeds and tropical wetlands at an altitude of . It was gazetted in 1973 as Royal Sukla Phanta Wildlife Reserve...
, which represents the eastern limit of its distribution.
Ecology
Finn's Weavers are gregarious and forage in flocks. 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. 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.
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 BirdwatchersNewsletter for BirdwatchersNewsletter for Birdwatchers is an Indian periodical of ornithology and birdwatching founded in 1960 by Zafar Futehally, who edited it until 2003. It was initially mimeographed and distributed to a small number of subscribers each month. The editorial board in its early years included Salim Ali,...
. 19(11): 11. - Rai, Y.M. (1979) Finn's Baya breeding at Meerut. Newsletter for BirdwatchersNewsletter for BirdwatchersNewsletter for Birdwatchers is an Indian periodical of ornithology and birdwatching founded in 1960 by Zafar Futehally, who edited it until 2003. It was initially mimeographed and distributed to a small number of subscribers each month. The editorial board in its early years included Salim Ali,...
. 19(7): 11. - Rai, Y.M. (1983) Hastinapur birds: Finn's Baya; Tawny Eagle; Crested Honey-Buzzard. Newsletter for BirdwatchersNewsletter for BirdwatchersNewsletter for Birdwatchers is an Indian periodical of ornithology and birdwatching founded in 1960 by Zafar Futehally, who edited it until 2003. It was initially mimeographed and distributed to a small number of subscribers each month. The editorial board in its early years included Salim Ali,...
. 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.