Baya Weavers flaunt legendary architectural skills, captivate Nepalis during covid-induced lockdown

The gregarious Baya Weaver birds renowned for their extra-ordinary architectural skills of rounding up hay and grass to weave together elaborate nests have been of late captivating Nepalis, who are mostly confined to their homes in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak induced lockdown.

"These birds with their chirpings have made Kathamandu, which went silent owing to the coronavirus lockdown, a magnificent place for nature lovers. We wake up in the morning and come here to see them, they are busy in their work and sometimes we feel like they are playing swing on their nests, it makes feel more pleasant," Jagannath Khadka, who wakes to the chirping of birds every morning for having the nest of birds in front of his house, told .

"They keep on flying from here to there in a row, their activities calms our mind and make the environment more pleasant as we listen to their chirping every morning," Khadka said.

There are about two dozen gourd-shaped hanging nests in trees which have been adding to the scenic beauty of the locality of Kathmandu amid the dense concrete structures.

The onset of the monsoon season is the period of mating for the Baya Weavers, which found across the Indian Sub-continent and are known as "Toop Chara" in Nepali when the male gets busy with the weaving of the nest which remains intact during strong winds and rain.

The female Baya Weaver initially inspects the structure of the nests and then helps the males to build them further where they breed in the coming days.

Weaver birds have a dull yellow colour with black markings and look like sparrows at a glance but with the approaching breeding season, the males grow brighter in colour with the yellow and black marking glowing over.

As the bird goes around in making of the nest to impress its opposite sex, their chirpings engulf the solitude of Kathmandu Valley.

The outskirts of Kathmandu which is covered with forest area and also home to the Baya Weavers, attracts hundreds of tourists every year. However, unplanned urbsation and haphazard construction of edge high buildings has been posing threat to the habitation of the sculptural birds, which might lead them to the extinction, silencing the chirping greetings forever.

( With inputs from ANI )