Nest site selection and habitat preference of baya weaver Ploceus philippinus in agricultural landscape

Study on nest site selection and habitat preferences of Baya Weaver (Ploceus philippinus) was carried out in the breeding season of 2018 to 2020 in three districts namely Ludhiana, Rupnagar and Ferozepur. Three sites per district were selected and a total of nine nesting colonies were studied. A total of 298, 312 and 240 nests were recorded at selected locations during breeding season of 2018, 2019 and 2020 respectively. Maximum number of nesting colonies were 77.77% on date palm (Phoenix dactylifera) followed by 11.11% each on fishtail palm (Caryota Urens ) and royal palm (Roystonea regia ). The 66.66% of them were located near human habitations, 44.44 % within the houses/building premises and 22.22% were within the villages. The 33.3 and 77.73% were located in the agricultural fields and in vicinity of water bodies respectively. Positive correlation of distance from agricultural fields, water body and different species of palm trees with number of nests as well as with population number showed the significance of these habitat features for nest site selection of Baya Weaver.