Juvenile Baya Weaver

These are sparrow-sized 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. Non-breeding males and females look alike, dark brown streaked fulvous buff above, plain (unstreaked) whitish fulvous below, eyebrow long and buff coloured, bill is horn coloured and no mask. Breeding males have a bright yellow crown, dark brown mask, blackish brown bill, upper parts are dark brown streaked with yellow, with a yellow breast and cream buff below. Baya Weavers are best known for the elaborately woven nests constructed by the males. These pendulous nests are retort shaped, with a central nesting chamber and a long vertical tube that leads to a side entrance to the chamber. The nests are woven with long strips of paddy leaves, rough grasses and long strips torn from palm fronds. The nests are often built hanging over water from palm trees and often suspended from thorny Acacias and in some cases from telephone wires. The nests are partially built before the males begin to display to passing females by flapping their wings and calling while hanging from their nests. The females inspect the nest and signal their acceptance of a male. Once a male and a female are paired, the male goes on to complete the nest by adding the entrance tunnel. Males are almost solely in charge of nest building, though their female partners may join in giving the finishing touches, particularly on the interiors. Both males and females are polygamous. Males build many partial nests and begin courting females. The male finishes the nest to completion only after finding a mate. Males may sometimes assist in feeding the chicks. After mating with a female the male typically court other females at other partially constructed nests. A widespread folk belief in India is that the Baya sticks fireflies with mud to the nest walls to light up the interior of the nest at night.