Locally called Burung Tempua in Malay, Baya Weaver is the only Ploceus genus available in the Malay Peninsula. It is widely distributed from the Indian subcontinent through South-East Asia including the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra and Java. This species mainly found in tall grassy areas like ricefields, reedbeds, wet grassland, plantations and cultivated land where it feeds on seeds at the area. The globular shaped nest is usually built hanging from a coconut palm frond or a branch in low scrub (Strange & Jeyarajasingam, 1993), where it is known to nests in small colonies (Jeyarajasingam & Pearson, 2012).

The breeding male can be identified by bright yellow forehead, crown and nape on the dark brown head. Also, it has a brownish throat, creamy pale belly, dark brown upperparts with a buffy streak as well as black on the bill and facial mask (Strange & Jeyarajasingam, 1993; Jeyarajasingam & Pearson, 2012). Meanwhile, non-breeding males and females can be differentiated by their duller shade and lack of yellow colour on the head parts. They appear to have pale tawny brown underparts, pale buff-brown long supercilium, pale throat with a pinkish base on bill horn (Jeyarajasingam & Pearson, 2012).