According to BNHS, all these factors have made it an urgent need to monitor this once common species and to collect its population data across India in order to reduce habitat loss and degradation and to promote conservation awareness initiatives.
The tiny and chirpy Indian Baya Weaver birds, known for their excellent skills of weaving pendulous nests which are usually found hanging in colonies, seem to be facing a population decline not only in Mumbai but also in other parts of Maharashtra as well as the country where they could be spotted commonly earlier.
Worried about their seemingly declining numbers, due to several reasons including habitat loss, the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) has decided to hold a pan-India Baya Weaver Count on two consecutive Sundays — June 5 and June 12 — urging all Indian bird watchers, ornithologists, NGOs, forest officials and nature lovers to record and report the sightings of Baya Weavers in their areas.
“In rural Maharashtra, Bayas were integral part of our backyard; but sadly, when I visit my village now, I hardly see the beautiful nests of bayas. Declining population of one time common bird like the Baya is a reflection of insidious damage we are doing to our immediate surroundings. Hence, continuous monitoring of such species is imperative to understand and monitor changing environment,” shared Dr Deepak Apte, director, BNHS.
The Bayas are a common species across India but along with most of the other weaver birds they are slowly undergoing a population decline because of increasing loss and modification of grasslands into human-dominated landscape, like agriculture farms, orchards, factories, canals and roads.
According to BNHS, all these factors have made it an urgent need to monitor this once common species and to collect its population data across India in order to reduce habitat loss and degradation and to promote conservation awareness initiatives.
Explaining the Baya Weaver Count initiative, a BNHS official said: “This is a citizen science initiative, the participants can select any location of their choice and record the sightings of Baya Weavers. The collected data can be reported to BNHS in a simple format which is available on www.bnhs.org or can be sent on ibabnhs@gmail.com.”
Naturalist Saurabh Sawant, who is an avid birder, said that though he will be travelling during these times he will still keep an eye if he can spot these birds and report. “They were frequently seen in the green patches of Aarey, Uran, Bhandup pumping station and other places but their numbers are certainly dwindling. It's even known that people remove their nests and take it away for decoration and its even sold, which definitely has an impact on the birds as these might use the same nesting sites,” he said.
About the Baya Weaver
Highly gregarious, sparrow-sized, feed on grains, seeds and insects and have a high-pitched voice.
Some males bring the nesting material, while some males weave thin threads into retort-shaped structures.
Polygamous breeding system
During breeding season — April and August — the Baya males sport a distinctive yellow breeding plumage.
All Indian weaver bird species are protected and listed in Schedule IV of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
Be a part of pan-India Baya Weaver Count
Two consecutive Sundays — June 05 and 12, 2016
Go for bird watching
Record the sightings of Baya Weavers in your chosen location
Submit your records on www.bnhs.org or send it to us on ibabnhs@gmail.com
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