Baya or Common Weaver Bird preening on a palm tree

2013-09-24 2

Baya Weaver Bird on a palm tree, during the monsoon breeding season.

The Baya Weaver (Ploceus philippinus) is a weaverbird found across the Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia. Flocks of these birds are found in grasslands, cultivated areas, scrub and secondary growth and they are best known for their hanging retort shaped nests woven from leaves. These nest colonies are usually found on thorny trees or palm fronds and the nests are often built near water or hanging over water where predators cannot reach easily. They are widespread and common within their range but are prone to local, seasonal movements mainly in response to rain and food availability.

Male of race philippinus displaying at nest
Male of burmanicus race with the bright yellow crown

Among the population variations, three subspecies are recognized. The nominate race philippinus is found through much of mainland India while burmanicus is found eastwards into Southeast Asia. The population in southwest India is darker above and referred to as subspecies travancoreensis.

Source - Wikipedia

Aravalli Biodiversity Park

The Aravallis are among the oldest mountain ranges having evolved about 1500 million years ago, and extend from Gujarat through Rajasthan to Haryana--Delhi. The spurs of the Aravallis are popularly known as the Delhi Ridge in Delhi.The Delhi ridge is said to be the green lungs for the city.

The Ridge today, for administrative reasons, is divided into 4 separate zones, namely :
The Old Delhi or Northern Ridge denotes the hilly area near Delhi University and is by far the smallest segment of the Ridge. Nearly 170 hectares were declared a Reserved Forest in 1915. Less than 87 hectares remain today.

The New Delhi or Central Ridge was made into a Reserved Forest in 1914 and stretches from just south of Sadar Bazaar to Dhaula Kuan.

The Mehrauli or South-Central Ridge

The Tughlaqabad or Southern Ridge sprawls across 6200 hectares and includes the Asola and Bhatti wildlife sanctuaries.

The Aravalli Biodiversity Park is located on the South Central Ridge and spreads over an area of 692 acres. The area is bounded clockwise by JNU (Nelson Mandela Marg), the Mehrauli - Mahipalpur road, NH-8 and the Palam road and the southern boundary of Vasant Vihar. The landscape is undulating with gentle slopes and dotted with numerous morrum and clay mined pits of different sizes, depths and shapes.
One can approach to the Aravalli Biodiversity Park, at present, either from Vasant Vihar- Poorvi Marg gate located at about 4 km south west of Moti Bagh, and 2 km west of Jawahar Lal Nehru University (Munirka) or from the Vasant Kunj Institutional gate which is about 3.5 km north of Mahipalpur and one km west of Vasant Kunj Malls.

Source: 1.Toxics Link
2.Bio-diversity Parks owned by DDA

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