Nesting habits of Baya Weaver Ploceus philippinus (Linnaeus, 1766) on power and television cables in the agricultural landscape of Kallakurichi district, Tamil Nadu, India.

The nesting habits of Baya Weaver Ploceus philippinus with nesting site (e.g., power and television cables), source of nest materials, various developmental stages of nests, abnormal nests, number of individuals and their association with other bird species, and threats to their nests were studied between March and September 2021 in the agrarian landscapes of 42 villages in Kallakurichi District, Tamil Nadu. A total of 155 nest colonies containing 1,725 nests of various developmental stages and 1,993 adult birds were counted on power/television cables. The number of nests per colony found varied from one to 57. The average number of nests per colony was eleven. Baya Weaver had preferred power/television cables as nesting sites in the study area in spite of availability of potential nest-supporting trees, such as Cocos nucifera and Borassus flabellifer within 500 m radii from cables bearing nests. Birds used fibres of sugarcane leaves (Saccharum officinarum) for the construction of nests. Out of 778 helmet stage nests observed, 90% (n = 716) helmet stage nests had clay deposits on their inner walls and no clay deposits were found in the remaining 10% (n = 62) helmet stage nests. Eleven types of abnormal nests constituted 17% (n = 286) of the total nests. Sixteen other bird species (e.g., birds of order: Passeriformes, Coraciiformes, Piciformes, Cuculiformes and Columbiformes) were found associated with the individuals of Baya Weaver. These bird species strictly shared similar roosting and foraging grounds. The avian predators such as House Crow Corvus splendens, Large-billed Crow Corvus macrorhynchos, Black Drongo Dicrurus macrocercus, Rufous Treepie Dendrocitta vagabunda, Coucal Centropus senegalensis, and Shikra Accipiter badius had damaged the nests, eggs and chicks. The study revealed that about 1.1% nests (n = 197) were probably damaged by these avian predators. Power cables in the study sites had provided suitable nesting sites for Baya Weavers. The causes for utilization of power cables as nesting sites in larger geographical areas require further studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]