Finn's Weaver or Finn's Baya (Ploceus megarhynchus) is a species of weaver bird found in the Ganges and Brahmaputra valleys in India and Nepal. Two races are known; the nominate from the Kumaon area and salimalii from the eastern Terai.

The habitat is tall grassland, typically swamps covered with Phragmites reeds or Typha, but also grasslands with Saccharum spontaneum.

Finn's Weavers feed mostly on seeds, sometimes foraging on fallen seed on roadsides. They also take insects.

They breed from May to September. The nest is built on top of trees or in reeds. The nest is different in structure from the other weaver species found in India, but as in other weavers, woven from thin strips of leaves and reeds. This species lines the entire inside of the nest, unlike the other weavers, which line only the floor of the nest. Males strip the leaves of the nest tree, making the globular nests clearly visible.

Males are successively polygamous, mating with 1 to 4 females. The clutch size is 2 to 4 eggs. The female alone incubates and the egg hatches in 14 to 15 days.

The species was named by Hume based on a specimen obtained at Kaladhungi near Nainital. The species was rediscovered in the Terai near Calcutta by Frank Finn and the species was given the common name of Finn's Baya by Eugene William Oates around 1889-90.

Cited references

1. ^ Baral, H.S. (1998) Finn's Baya Ploceus megarhynchus and Singing Bushlark Mirafra cantillans: two new species for Nepal. Forktail. 13(February):129-131.
2. ^ Abdulali,Humayun (1960) A new race of Finn's Baya, Ploceus megarhynchus Hume. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 57(3):659-662.
3. ^ Hume, A. O. Ibis, (2) 5 : 356 specimen 1887.1.1.1660 at the BMNH
4. ^ Beolens, B. & M. Watkins. 2003. Whose bird? Men and women commemorated in the common names of birds. Christopher Helm. (Note: this source incorrectly notes that Finn collected the Kaladhungi specimen. The type specimen was collected for or by Hume and Finn was still a child.)

Other references

• Abdulali, Humayun (1952) Finn's Baya Ploceus megarhynchus (Hume). J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 51(1):200-204.
• Abdulali, Humayun (1954) More notes on Finn's Baya (Ploceus megarhynchus). J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 52(2&3):599-601.
• Abdulali, Humayun (1961) The nesting habits of the eastern race of Finn's Baya Ploceus megarhynchus salimalii (Abdulali). J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 58(1):269-270.
• Ali, S. (1935) Mainly in quest of Finn's Baya. Indian Forester 41(6):365-374.
• Ali, Salim; Crook, John Hurrell (1959) Observations on Finn's Baya (Ploceus megarhynchus Hume) rediscovered in the Kumaon terai, 1959. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 56(3):457-483.
• Ambedkar, V.C. (1968) Observations on the breeding biology of Finn's Baya (Ploceus megarhynchus Hume) in the Kumaon Terai. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 65(3):596-607.
• Hart, W.C. (1937) Finn's Baya Ploceus megarhyncheus Hume). Indian Forester 43(1):45-46.
• O'Donell,H.V. (1916) The Eastern Baya Ploceus megarynchus nesting in the same tree as the Jungle Bee Apis indicus. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 24(4):821.
• Rai, Y. M. (1979) Observations on Finn's Baya breeding near Meerut. Newsl. for Birdwatchers. 19(11):11.
• Rai, Y.M. (1979) Finn's Baya breeding at Meerut. Newsl. for Birdwatchers. 19(7):11.
• Rai, Y.M. (1983) Hastinapur birds: Finn's Baya; Tawny Eagle; Crested Honey-Buzzard. Newsl. for Birdwatchers. 23(7-8):14-15.
• Saha, S.S. (1967) The Finn's Baya Ploceus megarhynchus Hume [Aves: Passeriformes: Ploceidae] and its breeding colony near Calcutta. Proc. Zool. Soc. Calcutta 20, 181-185.
• Saha, Subhendu Sekhar (1976) Occurrence of Finn's Baya (Ploceus megarhynchus Hume) in Darrang District, Assam. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 73(3):527-529.

External links

• http://www.rdb.or.id/detailbird.php?id=306