Nesting habits of the Baya Weaver Ploceus philippinus (Linnaeus, 1766) in the agricultural landscape of Tindivanam, Tamil Nadu, India

: This paper pertains to the nesting habits of Ploceus philippinus (Linnaeus, 1766) with specific reference to the agricultural landscape of Tindivanam Taluk, Villupuram District, Tamil Nadu during the breeding period between April and October 2021. A total of 11,386 nests (wad stage-840, ring stage-478, helmet stage-3,980, egg-chamber closed stage-2,865, completed nests-2,028, abnormal nests-938, and damaged nests-257) and 12,600 birds were observed on 832 nest-supporting plants. Nest-supporting plants belonged to 27 species, 26 genera, and 17 families. The three principal nest-supporting palm species— Borassus flabellifer , Cocos nucifera , and Phoenix sylvestris —represented 85.21% of the total nest-supporting plants. The number of nests (including all the stages) per colony varied from 1 to 109 and 70.16% nests were oriented towards the east. Abnormal nests constituted 8.24% of the recorded nests with 17 variations and 90.12% helmet stage nests contained plastering of clay on the inner walls. Nest predation by House Crow, Large-billed Crow, Asian Koel, Black Drongo, & Rufous Treepie and killing of adult Baya Weaver by Shikra were recorded.

In this paper, I document the quantitative analysis of nests, birds, nest-supporting plants, roosting and foraging behaviours of Baya Weaver with specific reference to the agricultural landscape of Tindivanam Taluk, Villupuram District, Tamil Nadu. The following objectives were kept in mind in the study: (i) Nest tree use pattern and its microhabitat (power cables, roads, and human dwellings, water bodies), (ii) Features of nest building including sources of nesting materials, stages of nest development, orientation, plastering of clay on inner walls, and abnormalities, (iii) Roosting and foraging behaviours including preference of crops, and (iv) Interactions with other bird species and threats faced.

Study area
The present study was carried out in 115 villages (Appendix-I) in Tindivanam Taluk (12.236N-79.649E), Villupuram District, spread over 80 km 2 . The human population of the district is c. 500,000 (2011 Census). Agriculture is the primary occupation of the people here. The major crops of the area are Paddy Oryza sativa, Jowar Sorghum bicolor, Pearl Millet Pennisetum glaucum, Finger Millet Eleusine coracana, Foxtail Millet Setaria italica, Sugarcane Saccharum officinarum (Poaceae), Green Gram Vigna radiata, Groundnut Arachis hypogaea (Fabaceae), and Cassava Manihot esculenta (Euphorbiaceae). Small-scale cultivation of ornamental flower, vegetable, fruit, and monoculture of Cauariana equisetifolia (Equisetaceae) also occurs. The maximum and minimum temperatures of the district are 36 o C and 20 o C, respectively. The average annual rainfall of the district is 1,060 mm (www.viluppuram.nic.in) ( Figure 1).

Methods
With help of two field assistants, I identified 115 villages in Tindivanam taluk having a history of habitations of Baya Weavers. These villages were surveyed daily between 0545-1200 h and 1500-1830 h when the birds were active between the first week of April and the second week of October 2021. The heights of the nest-supporting trees were measured using Silva Clinometer while GBH (Girth at breast height) and distances between the nesting trees and power cables, road, human dwellings, various type of crop fields were measured using a 100 m measuring tape. The canopy width was obtained by cross method (Blozan 2006) by measuring the edge of the canopy shadow on the ground. The distances between nest-supporting plants and the above-listed factors were grouped under 01-50 m, 51-100 m, 101-150 m, 151-200 m, and >200 m or J TT 01-100 m, 101-200 m, 201-300 m. The locations of the inventoried 832 nest-supporting plants were determined using a standard GPS (Garmin Etrex 20x). The total number of nests observed on one nest-supporting plant was considered one nest colony. Using Super Zenith 20 x 50 field binoculars, the number of nests in the colonies, their developmental stages, abnormalities, damaged nests, clay deposits on inner walls of helmet stage nests, and number of birds were enumerated. The orientations of the nests were determined using a 'Compass App' in a smart phone iPhone (Model A1530). Every nest-supporting plant was observed uninterruptedly for 60 min and the maximum number of birds perched at one time on the nest-supporting plants during the observation period was determined as the number of birds per plant. The fallen nests spread over on the ground under the nest-supporting plants were enumerated. Roosting and foraging behaviours of flocks, preferred plants for foraging were observed for 20 days (10-29 July 2021) from 0545 to 1830 h, nest predation by avian predators and interactions with other birds were observed using binoculars. Utmost care was taken not to disturb the nests or birds, maintaining a minimum distance of c. 30 m during observations. No live nests, eggs, chicks, or adult birds were disturbed. Nikon P1000 digital camera was used for photography and videography.

Data analysis
One-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was applied to test the differences among the total number of nests and total number of birds observed on the nestsupporting plant species such as Borassus flabellifer, Phoenix sylvestris, Cocos nucifera, Prosopis juliflora, Morinda tinctoria, Casuarina equisetifolia, Phyllanthus reticulatus, and others by using Statistical Package for Social Sciences. Those nest-supporting plant species (n = 19) which represented more than 10 individuals per species were taken as separate variables and the plant species which represented less than 10 individuals were grouped as 'others' for analysis. Test of significance was assessed at p = 0.05. The correlation between variables such as GBH (cm), heights (m) and canopy sizes (m) of nestsupporting plants and the number of nests enumerated on them was calculated using Pearson's Correlation Coefficient test. Collected data were tabulated, analysed and shown as graphical representations.

Baya Weavers and their plant preference to build nests
A total of 832 nest-supporting plants belonging to 27 species, 26 genera, and 17 families bearing nests of Baya Weaver were observed in 115 villages in Tindivanam Taluk. Among the 17 families, three families such as Arecaceae, Musaceae, and Poaceae are monocotyledons. Family Fabaceae represented a maximum of seven species, followed by Arecaceae representing three species, Moraceae and Phyllanthaceae are representing two species each and other 13 families representing one species each. A total of 12,600 adult birds were counted on those 832 nest-supporting plants. Maximum 73.69% birds (n = 9,285) were observed on Borassus flabellifer trees, followed by 11.38% birds (n = 1,434) on Cocos nucifera, 8.94% birds (n = 1,127) on Phoenix sylvestris, and the remaining 5.99% birds (n = 754) were enumerated on 24 other nest-supporting plant species (Table 1).

Preference of birds to primary nest-supporting trees to build nests
Among 27 species, the three primary nest-supporting plant species were palms (Arecaceae), (B. flabellifer 58.9%, n = 490; P. sylvestris 14.18%, n = 118; and C. nucifera 12.14%, n = 101), which represented 85.21% (n = 709) of the total nest-supporting plants (Table 1). Among 490 B. flabellifer trees, 55.10% were male trees (n = 270) bearing 58.72% nests (n = 4,876) and other 44.9% were females trees (n = 220) bearing 41.28% nests (n = 3,428). One rare instance of Baya Weaver constructing a nest on Musa paradisiaca using a torn leaf lamina was recorded. In another instance, a nest was found attached to the rachilla of inflorescence of C. nucifera as against the usual practice of birds constructing nests from tip of leaflets (Image 1).
ANOVA test reveals that significant differences existed between the type of nest-supporting plant species and the number of nests (F-value = 7.691, p <0.001) and birds (F-value = 7.269, p <0.001) at 5% (p <0.05) level of significance. Analysis also revealed that there existed significant differences among the three primary nest-supporting plant species and the number of nests (F-value = 11.155, p <0.001) and number of birds (F-value = 10.589, p <0.001) at 5% (p <0.05) level of significance. Positive correlation was observed (r = 0.231) between the number of nests and GBH and tree height of nest-supporting plants but negative correlation (r = -0.043) existed between the number of nests and canopy sizes of nest-supporting plants.

Preference of Baya Weaver to build nests close to grain crops
The study revealed that 65.6% of nest-supporting plants bearing 65.67% of nests enumerated were situated in crop lands where cereal grain crops were under cultivation, such as paddy, pearl millet, finger millet, sorghum, and foxtail millet. Apart from this, 12.5% of the nest-supporting plants were within 500 m of such crops, while another 21.9% plants were at a distance of 500-1,000 m from cereal grain crops. This shows overwhelming preference for crop lands or their vicinity as choice of nesting colonies ( Table 2).

Preference of Baya Weaver in building nests on plants occurring close to power cables, roads and human dwellings
The study also tested the relationship between proximity of overhead transmission power cables, roads, human dwellings, and selection of nest-supporting plants by populations of Baya Weaver. The study revealed that maximum nest-supporting plants, nests and birds occurred within 50 m distance from power cables ( Figure 3). The study also revealed that maximum nestsupporting plants, nests, and birds occurred within 100 m distance from the adjacent roads ( Figure 4). Similarly, maximum nest-supporting plants, and birds occurred within 100 m distance from human dwellings ( Figure 5).

Hedges under nest-supporting trees
Study on the type of vegetation covered around the stems of nest-supporting plants revealed that 81.97% nest-supporting plants (n = 682) lacked any bushes/ shrubs around the stems/trunks, whereas dense shrubs were growing around the bases of stems of 18.03% nest-supporting plants (n = 150). The shrubs around the stems were indentified as P. juliflora, L. camara, A. indica, S. trilobatum, S. xanthocarpum, C. carolinus, and F. leucopyrus. These plants were found thickly covering the basal parts of stems of nest-supporting plants/ trees and probably prevented humans or monkeys from accessing the plants/trees.

Source of nest materials
The study on the source of nest materials revealed that Baya Weavers had plucked fibres from three plant species, such as leaves of Sugarcane, Narrow Leaf Cattail Typha angustifolia, and leaflets of Indian Date Palm.

Deposit of clay in the nests
The males had plastered the inner walls of helmet stage nests with wet clay immediately after the completion of construction of helmet stage nests and before selection of such nests by females. Out of a total of 11,386 nests, 3,980 nests (35.24%) were found in the helmet stage. Observation of the inner walls of those helmet stage nests through binoculars and digital camera revealed that 90.12% helmet stage nests (n = 3,587) contained plastering of clay on the inner walls. The remaining 9.88% helmet stage nests (n = 393) had no such smearing of clay on their inner walls. It was not possible to view and study the nature of clay deposits in the completed nests through binoculars, as the nest chambers were found closed. Continuous observations revealed no incidents of males taking readily available wet clay from paddy fields. Between 0600 and 0800 h daily, all the males swarmed to the adjacent wet fallow lands (200 to 700 m distance from nest-supporting plants) and scooped the bulk of wet clay through their beaks in many trips and carried it to helmet stage nests. It was not possible to ascertain whether the birds added clay on the inner walls after closing of the egg-chamber and construction of the entrance tube. No females were seen on wet soil surfaces, scooping clay or carrying it to the nests (Image 5a,b).

Communal roosting and foraging
The study on 20 flocks engaged in roosting and foraging revealed that the individuals of Baya Weaver always moved as flocks, the flock size ranging 40-75 birds. All the flocks flew in close formations by performing complicated manoeuvers and moved out of roosting sites such as sugarcane crops and P. juliflora bushes between 0600 and 0630 h daily for foraging. Baya Weavers strictly followed communal roosting and foraging. They foraged mainly on cereal grain crops but occasional foraging on other crops/grasses was also observed. Out of twenty flocks studied, 13 flocks were found foraging on paddy crops. During foraging the flocks used nearby overhead power transmission cables as transit roosting sites. After foraging, the flocks split and returned to their nesting colonies in various directions. Then nest construction activities, roosting and preening continued on the nestsupporting plants, and adjacent roosting sites. Again they moved as small flocks for foraging between 1030 and d 1130 h and afterwards some birds returned to their nesting trees and the remaining roosted on adjacent sugarcane crops and Prosopis juliflora trees for day roost. Third foraging trips were observed in the evening period between c. 1600 and 1740 h. After evening forage, some birds returned to their nesting trees and others moved to adjacent sugarcane and P. juliflora trees for night roosts. The foraging continued for a short span of time, i.e., 20 to 50 min and the flocks moved frequently from one site to another on the foraging crops. Apart from grain crops, the birds also consumed unripe seeds of S. indicum, C. annuum, L. camara, and grasses such as S. pallide-fusca & P. geminatum (Image 4). The foraging flocks contained individuals of other bird species, such as Tricolored Munia Lonchura malacca, Scaly-breasted Munia Lonchura punctulata, and White-rumped Munia Lonchura striata (Table 4).
No individual of Baya Weaver was found night roosting on the nesting trees during the entire study period. After evening forage, all the birds used to flee from the nest colonies and roost on the shrubs/ sugarcane crops and return to their nest colonies the next morning. Continuous monitoring on nest colonies revealed that some females entering their nests during the evening hours did not come out and it was presumed that those females might have been incubating their eggs or nestlings.

Threats
A total of 257 nests were found torn and dangling from the nest-supporting plants, of which 86.38% of damaged nests (n = 222) were found attached to fronds of B. flabellifer trees, 4.67% damaged nests each (n = 12) were found on C. nucifera and P. sylvestris, respectively, and the remaining 4.28 % damaged nests (n = 11) occurred on other nest-supporting plants, such as P. reticulatus, P. juliflora, F. benghalensis, and F. leucopyrus. Among 257 nests, 47 nests had circular openings opposite egg-chambers (Image 5c,d,e).

Threats
The study revealed that the farmers have the  Drongo, and Asian Koel were observed during the study, whereas no antagonistic relationships existed between Baya Weavers and Common Myna and Indian Roller. Rufous Treepie had plucked fibres and made a circular opening on the anterior side of egg-chamber and inserted their heads (Image 5a). In seven instances, individuals of Black Drongo had plucked fibres from nests and caused damage to the nests. Seven nests (helmet-1 & complete nests-6) of Baya Weaver were occupied by White-rumped Munia and no antagonistic relationship was observed between these two species. It was not possible to ascertain whether the individuals of Whiterumped Munia occupied abandoned nests or by usurping the nests from resident Baya Weavers. No incident of either damage to nests or killing of adult birds by Black Kites was noticed, but Baya Weavers were seen to be frightened and fleeing from the nesting colonies when a Black Kite landed on nesting trees (Table 5; Image 6).

Baya Weavers and their preference of plants to build nests
Baya Weavers used B. flabellifer trees extensively for construction of nests in the eastern parts of peninsular India (Sharma 1989). Davis (1974) indicated that 60% of nests occurred on both B. flabellifer and C. nucifera. In the present study, I found that Baya Weavers preferred B. flabellifer (58.9%; n = 490), since 72.93% of nests (n = 8,304) occurred on them. It was also observed that Baya Weavers preferred more male B. flabellifer trees (55.10%; n = 270) than female trees (44.9%; n = 220) for construction of nests. The probable reasons for preferring male trees might be due to less human disturbance faced by male trees as compared to female trees. However the exact causes for such a preference will require further investigation. In one instance, a male bird constructed a nest by plaiting a knot encircling the stems of Cocculus carolinus, Prosopis juliflora, and rachis of Phoenix sylvestris. In another case the nest was found attached to the tip of stems of Prosopis juliflora and S. trilobatum. Ambedkar (1969) had stated that Baya Weavers of different regions preferred different plant species for construction of nests. He also recorded six species in Tamil Nadu, viz., B. flabellifer, P. sylvestris, C. nucifra, P. dulce, T. indica, and Acacia spp. Birds used 25 plant species as nesting substrata in Uttar Pradesh (Mathew 1972) and 17 plant species in Arakkonam taluk of Tamil Nadu (Pandian 2021a). In the present study, 27 plant species have been recorded including the six species as recorded by Ambedkar (1969).

Preference of Baya Weavers in building nests on plants occurring close to power cables, roads and human dwelling
As a social bird, Baya Weavers generally prefer to live near agricultural areas with significant human activity. For example, Ali (2009) found that the Weaver populations used electricity lines as fetching sites for collection of food and nesting materials. Ninety-three percent of nest-supporting plants occurred in close proximity to power cables, 64% nest-supporting plants near roads, and 86% nest-supporting plants near human dwellings were reported in Villupuram district (Pandian & Ahimas 2018). In the present study, the maximum nest-supporting plants occurred close to power cables that passed through crop fields and they were used as fetching and roosting sites while foraging, collection of nesting materials and feeding broods. The birds selected apparently nest-supporting plants that occurred in close proximity to roads with busy vehicular traffic and human dwellings close to cultivated lands hence, this matches with the findings of Ali (2009) and (Pandian & Ahimas 2018).

Source of nest materials
The nest materials used by Baya Weavers were found to vary according to the locality. In India, the birds used leaf fibres of C. nucifera and P. sylvestris except in the north (Dewar 1909). Baya Weavers used fibres from grass and palm fronds to construct nests in the Northern Province of Sri Lanka, India, Africa, and Seychelles (Wood 1926;Crook 1962), leaves of Phoenix sp., coarse grass and paddy in Kolaba district, Maharashtra (Ali 1931), and Phoenix sp., paddy, millets, coconut, and lemon grass in Cuddapah district of Andhra Pradesh (Mathew 1972). The present findings of birds using fibres of P. sylvestris for construction of nests partly matches with the observations of Dewar (1909), Wood (1926), Ali (1931), Crook (1962), Mathew (1972), and Davis (1974). Apart from P. sylvestris, the birds used leaves of S. officinarum and T. angustifolia as nest materials in the study area.

Orientation of nests
Nests of Baya Weavers were found hanging in an easterly direction to protect the nests from winds of the south-west monsoon in the Northern Province of Ceylon (Wood 1926). Many authors have commented on the occurrence of more nests on the eastern side (windward) of the plants as protection from strong monsoon winds (Ali 1931;Ambedkar 1964;Davis 1971;Quader 2003). The nests of the White-browed Sparrow (Plocepasser mahali) constructed on the windward side of trees suffered more damage than those on leeward side (Ferguson & Siegfried 1989). It was reported that 40.4% nest colonies in Rajasthan (Sharma 1990), 87% nests in Chorao Island, Goa (Borges et al. 2012), 88.6% of nests in Tindivanam taluk (Pandian & Ahimas 2018), and 80.86% of nests in Arakkonam taluk, Tamil Nadu (Pandian 2021a) were oriented towards the east probably to protect their nests from the battering south-west monsoon winds. In the present study also, 70.16% nests were found hanging towards the east, hence it matches with the findings of Wood (1926), Ali (1931), Ambedkar (1964), Davis (1971), Quader (2003, Borges et al. (2012), Ahimas (2018), andPandian (2021a). Sharma (1990) observed all solitary nests faced other than the eastern side in Rajasthan whereas in the present study, 97.7% solitary nests (n = 87) were found facing the eastern side, hence it contradicts the observations of Sharma (1990).
it matches with the observations of the above said authors.
Abnormal nesting behaviour also occurs in other species of the genus Ploceus. For example, Southernmasked Weaver P. velatus constructs one of the most abnormal nests among the Weaver birds in South Africa, Angola, Zambia and Mozambique (www.weavers.adu. org). Black-throated Weaver P. benghalensis builds an abnormal entrance tube of more than a metre length (Mishra 2004) and Spectacled Weaver P. ocularis constructs an abnormal entrance tube with a twometre length in southern Africa (Maclean 1985). African Weaver P. cucullatus constructs an abnormal nest with supernumerary antechamber or bottomless or canopy type nests with variations in the entrance tubes (Collias & Collias 1962;Crook 1963). Intraspecific variations in the length of entrance tubes are found in the nests of Streaked Weaver (P. manyar) and Sakalava Weaver (P. sakalava). The Streaked Weaver constructs a nest with a short entrance tube in reeds in India, but with a long entrance tube in trees in Java (Delacour 1947) and the Sakalava Weaver constructs a nest with a short entrance tube in the arid habitats and a long entrance tube in the other habitats in Madagascar. Hence, like other species of Ploceus, Baya Weavers are also found to have constructed abnormal nests with 17 variations in the study area.

Deposition of clay
It was found that plastering of clay by males started when the nest construction was in the helmet stage, as also reported in other studies (Dewar 1909;Ali 1931;Borkar & Komarpant 2003). According to Davis (1973), wet mud smudging in nests takes place prior to pairing with females. The behavior of deposition of mud on the inner walls of nests is also prevalent among the other species of Ploceus, viz., Black-breasted Weaver P. benghalensis and Streaked Weaver P. manyar (Crook 1962). Wood (1926) suggested that plastering of clay helps to stabilize the nest in strong winds and also speculated that it might have been the habit of some ancestors of Baya Weaver, which built nests entirely or partly made of mud. Crook (1963) and Davis (1973) opined that mud plaster gives reinforcement to the fibres when the female conducts violent examination prior to her selection of nests. Ali (1931) and Sharma (1996) stated that intricate ethology is behind this peculiar habit of plastering and hence it requires further research. In this study, 90.12% helmet stage nests (n = 3,587) contained clay deposits on the inner nest walls and the exact reasons for plastering of clay needs further J TT study as stated by Ali (1931) and Sharma (1996).

Communal roosting and foraging
The mixed communal roosting consisting of different bird species serves as a centre for the exchange of information regarding the locations of food sources and warning signals about the approach of predators (Zahavi 1971;Gadgil 1972;Ward & Zahavi 1973;Gadgil & Ali 1975). Pandian (2020) had observed communal foraging and roosting of Baya Weaver in Ranipet district, Tamil Nadu. In the present study, flocks containing individuals of Baya Weaver, Tricolored Munia, Scaly-breasted Munia, and White-rumped Munia moved collectively without any competition over sharing of food and roosting sites. The behaviour of mixed roosting of four different species might have shared information on sources of cereal grain crops and protection from predators as stated by Gadgil (1972), Zahavi (1971), Ward & Zahavi (1973), Gadgil & Ali (1975). The food of the adult Baya Weaver comprises of cereal grains, grasses, weeds, flower nectar, and insects (Ali & Ripley 1987), paddy and weed seeds (Mukherjee & Saha 1974), paddy grains followed by bajra and sorghum (Ali et al. 1978). In the present study, the birds preferred cereal grain crops mainly paddy, pearl millet, finger millet and foxtail millet, grasses and a weed L. camara as observed by Ali & Ripley (1987) and Ali et al. (1978). Additionally Baya Weavers foraging on seeds of sesame and chilli crops were observed in the current study.

Threats
The males made openings on the nests from the outside directly into the egg-chamber to feed the chicks (Wood 1926). Borges et al. (2002) observed eight nests with a hole near the egg-chamber in Goa. Ali et al. (1956) felt that most circular holes bored opposite the egg-chamber recorded in nests in Pune, Maharashtra, could have been caused by predators. Rufous Treepie made a circular opening near the egg-chamber and predated eggs/chicks (Pandian 2021a). In the present study, a total of 257 damaged nests were found attached to the nest-supporting plants, of which 47 nests had circular holes near the egg chambers confirming that individuals of Rufous Treepie made circular holes on six nests corroborating the findings of Ali (1931) and Pandian (2021a). Another 11 nests were damaged by House Crows, Large-billed Crows, Black Drongos, and Asian Koels. The reasons for damages in the remaining 240 nests were not possible to ascertain during the present study.
Many complete nests were blown down due to recurring spells of bad weather during June-August in the Bombay area and the males cutting down the nest of rival cocks was common when the owner had gone to fetch nesting materials in Poona City (Ali et al. 1956). The males usually had the habit of cutting down their own nests, including those rejected by females and complete nests after broods have departed (Collias & Collias 1959, 1962). An instance of male Baya Weaver cutting down a complete nest occupied by White-rumped Munia was recorded in Villupuram district (Pandian 2021b). In the present study, a total of 1,050 nests had fallen down from the nest colonies. A total of 25 eggs and 18 dead chicks were found spread near fallen nests. The occurrence of such a great number of fallen nests may have been due to various biotic and abiotic factors as suggested by Ali et al. (1957), Collias & Collias (1959, 1962, and Pandian (2021b) and it needs further study.
House Crows and Large-billed Crows were the major predators of nests, eggs and broods (Ali 1956). Nest predation by Rufous Treepie was reported in Arakkonam taluk, Tamil Nadu (Pandian 2021a). Agitated behaviour of birds when Crow Pheasants Centropus sinensis appeared in close proximity of nesting trees and a Shikra making an unsuccessful stoop on a nest colony was observed in Kolaba district, Maharashtra (Ali 1931). In the present study, individuals of Baya Weavers had exhibited an agitated behaviour when House Crows and Large-billed Crows landed on nesting trees and two incidents of predation on adult male birds by Shikra and 17 incidents of nest damages by avian predators, such as House Crow, Large-billed Crow, Asian Koel, Black Drongo, and Rufous Treepie were observed as stated by Ali (1931), Ali (1956), and Pandian (2021a) hence, these predators posed a threat to the populations of Baya Weaver in the study area.

CONCLUSION
This is a systematic quantitative study on the preference of Baya Weaver towards various nestsupporting plants as nesting substrata, stages of nests, abnormal nests and probable threats to the nests on such nesting plants in the study area. The survey revealed that out of 27 plant species, Baya Weavers preferred three primary nest-supporting palm species, such as B. flabellifer, C. nucifera, and P. sylvestris for nesting. These three palms are an integral part of rural areas and they are also associated with rural cottage industries. The birds preferred nests on plants close to power cables, roads and human dwellings. Maximum nest-supporting plants occurred in cereal grain crop land. Probably the J TT nests are located on the eastern side of trees to protect them from the strong south-west monsoon winds. High variations of nests (17 types of abnormal nests) were reported. The birds strictly followed mixed communal roosting and foraging. Nest predation by avian predators was also found. Increasing urbanization by conversion of cultivated lands into residential areas, industrialization, widening of roads along with indiscriminate felling of these principal nest-supporting plants that are vital for Baya Weaver is a conservation issue in this landscape. Increasing practice of monoculture of Casuarina, sugarcane, vegetables, and flower crops, declining areas of cultivation of cereals and millets cause shortage of food grains to adult birds. Destruction of nests due to various anthropogenic factors and abiotic factors (monsoon winds and rains) may also affect the breeding of the Baya Weaver. The survey is limited to one taluk, but this is part of a larger geographical area that has a potential for high nesting population of the Baya Weaver which, however, faces threats from the changing rural landscape. Therefore, a conservation program focused on Baya Weaver could be taken up in the area, primarily through protection of nests and birds, keeping a check on anthropogenic threats, along with a sensitization program for local farmers towards conservation.