The Baya Weaver Bird

The Baya Weaver Bird, Ploceus philippinus

The Baya Weaver, Ploceus philippinus photographed in the Reserved Forest adjoining our farm near Thirupporur. There were just 4 or 5 nests, mostly incomplete, hanging from a thorny Acacia leucophloea tree. This species is found across South and Southeast Asia. Flocks of these birds are found in grasslands, cultivated areas and scrublands. Baya Weaver birds are sparrow-sized (about 15 cm) and in their non-breeding plumage, both males and females resemble female house sparrows. They have a stout conical bill and a short square tail. Breeding males have a bright yellow crown, dark brown mask and a blackish brown bill.

These birds are gregarious and forage in flocks for grass seeds. They are also known to glean paddy and other grain from harvested fields. On our farm they are quite common as we mostly grow paddy. Their calls are a continuous ‘chit-chit-chit …‘ sometimes ending in a wheezy ‘cheee-eee-ee‘ that is produced by males in a chorus.

Baya Weavers are justly famous for the elaborately woven nests constructed by the male birds. These hanging nests have a central nesting chamber and a long vertical tube that leads to a side entrance to the main chamber. The nests are woven with long strips of paddy leaves, rough grasses and long strips torn from palm fronds. Both males and females are polygamous. Males build many partial nests and begin courting females. The male finishes the nest only after finding a mate. The female lays about 2 to 4 white eggs. Eggs hatch after about 14 to 17 days of incubation. Males may sometimes assist in feeding the chicks. The fledglings leave the nest after about 17 days. After mating with a female, the male typically courts other females at other partially constructed nests. These birds are called Thukkanan-kuruvi in Tamil.

Danaid Eggfly

Male Danaid Eggfly, Hypolimnas misippus

The Danaid Eggfly, Hypolimnas misippus photographed in a farm near Thurinjikuppam. This is a widely distributed butterfly belonging to the Nymphalidae family. This particular species is found across Africa, Asia, and Australia. The species is well known for polymorphism and Batesian mimicry. Males are blackish with distinctive white spots that are fringed in iridescent blue. Females are in multiple forms (polymorphism) that include male-like forms while others appear like the toxic Danaus chrysippus and Danaus plexippus butterfles (Batesian mimicry).

Larval host plants include species of Portulaca and Asystasia. The butterfly larva is black with a brick-red head furnished with two long black thick branched spines; the rest of the segments except the anal segment are provided with ten branched spines. The pupa is short and thick; light brown, variegated and streaked with dark brown, particularly towards the head and tail.

Crown-of-Thorns

Crown-of-thorns, Euphorbia milii

Photographed this Crown-of-thorns plant, Euphorbia milii in Besant Nagar. This plant is familiar to me from my childhood days in Delhi. We had several plants growing in a corner of our home garden. I remember these hardy plants always having a few flowers open throughout the year. It is a woody, succulent species of belonging to the spurge family Euphorbiaceae. It is native to Madagascar. The species name commemorates Baron Milius who introduced the species to France in 1821.

It is a succulent climbing shrub growing up to 2 metres tall, with densely spiny stems, the straight, slender spines up to 3 cm long. The spiny stems help it scramble over other plants. The leaves are found mainly on new growth, and are obovate, up to 3.5 cm long and 1.5 cm broad. The flowers are small, subtended by a pair of conspicuous petal-like bracts, coloured red, pink or white, up to 12 mm broad. The milky sap is moderately poisonous. Many cultivars are now available with much larger leaves and bracts.

Little Cormorant

Little Cormorant, Microcarbo niger

I photographed this Little Cormorant, Microcarbo niger specimen in the Adyar Poonga. The Little Cormorant breeds in tropical south Asia from southern Pakistan through India and Sri Lanka east to Indonesia. It is a resident bird but undertakes limited seasonal movements.

This is a small cormorant about 55 cm in length. It can be distinguished from the slightly larger Indian Cormorant by its rectangular head profile and shorter bill. The bird is mainly glossy black in the breeding season, with white head plumes and a whitish throat. The wing feathers are silvery, and it has a longish tail.

The sexes are similar, but non-breeding adults and juveniles are browner in colour and lack the head plumes. It breeds in freshwater wetlands and on coasts. 3 to 5 eggs are laid in a nest in a tree or long grass.

The Little Cormorant can dive to considerable depths, but usually feeds in shallow water. It frequently brings prey to the surface. A wide variety of fish are taken. The bird was originally described by the French ornithologist Louis Jean Pierre Vieillot in 1817.