Quelea: Bid to contain ‘world’s most hated bird’
Agriculture Principal Secretary Paul Ronoh (in green) with wheat farmers as they assess damage caused by quelea birds on a wheat farm in Mau Narok on Wednesday, December 3, 2024.
For months, the quiet rural area of Tipis in Narok County has been disrupted by the constant swarming of quelea birds over the vast wheat fields.
Mr Ezekiel Ngarara’s 10-acre farm has been turned into a battleground as he fights to protect his crops from the ravenous birds.
“I have never experienced anything like this. These birds have no mercy. They come in their thousands and they destroy everything in their path. You can hear them and when they land, it’s like a storm,” said Mr Ngarara.
The ravenous quelea bird. The Kirinyaga County Government has moved in to deal with the estimated 1.5 million queleas which have invaded the expansive Mwea Irrigation Scheme. Rice farmers have expressed fear that they would lose their harvest if the birds were not controlled. With each bird eating an average of 10gms of grain per day, the farmers would lose an average of 15 tons of rice daily.
His farm is now dotted with scarecrows and strategically positioned young men, each holding a vuvuzela to scare the invasive birds known for their large swarms and insatiable appetite for grains.
The birds have been a persistent problem for many farmers in the region but for Mr Ngarara, the situation reached a tipping point when his wheat, which he had carefully tended to through months of hard work, started to suffer massive damage.
The vuvuzelas, loud and shrill, are meant to create a continuous jarring noise that disrupts the birds’ feeding patterns. The hired young men work in shifts, ensuring there is never a moment of silence.
Despite the noise, however, the quelea birds are undeterred, continuing to descend in droves and feast on Mr Ngarara’s crops.
“For a month, I tried everything to scare them off—scarecrows, loud sounds, even throwing stones—but nothing worked. So, I hired a few young men to blow vuvuzelas all day long to try and keep the birds at bay. But it’s exhausting and costly. Every day, I have to pay them Sh500 each,” Mr Ngarara said.
Another farmer, Mr Joshua Cheruyiot, has been struggling with the same challenge. His 15-acre farm has been under siege by the quelea birds for weeks, leaving him feeling defeated and desperate. His frustration is compounded by his family’s reliance on the wheat crop for their livelihood.
“If I lost this harvest, it would be devastating for us. My children depend on this income for school fees, and I’m the sole breadwinner,” he said.
Quelea birds on Narok a wheat field in Narok.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture, quelea bird flocks ranging from one million to five million can consume 50 tonnes of grain in a day.
The quelea is a small bird native to sub-Saharan Africa and the most populous bird species in the world. It weighs between 15 and 27 grams and eats about 10 grams of plant seeds in a day. When they descend on farms in their millions, the destruction and losses incurred by farmers are huge. That is why it has been dubbed the world’s most hated bird species.
Agriculture Principal Secretary Paul Ronoh said the government plans to use drones to spray avicides—bird killing chemicals—to prevent further losses for farmers in Nakuru and Narok counties.
The drones are equipped with spraying systems that release pesticides designed to specifically target quelea birds. The drones fly over the fields, dispersing the pesticide in precise amounts, ensuring that it reaches the areas most affected. The method has proven to be far more efficient and effective than traditional spraying techniques, which would require a larger crew and more resources.
Dr Ronoh said the birds are highly mobile and it has been difficult to predict where they may attack next. He said farmers have lost close to 70 per cent of their crop this year due to the quelea invasion
“We’re launching a five-day aerial spraying exercise to control the birds in this area that straddles Narok and Nakuru counties. Close to 2, 500 farmers are affected by the pests. Last year, the invasion was not as much compared to this year,” Dr Ronoh said.
In a March 2024 release, the Food and Agriculture Organisation said quelea migration is based on seasons, with flocks tending to move from dry areas to where there is rainfall.
“The arrival of the birds thus coincides with the presence of mature grass seed in the field, leaving food crops vulnerable to attack,” the report states.
Kenya largely relies on wheat imports to meet as much as three-quarters of the demand for the commodity commonly used in baking. According to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, importation of wheat has been growing since last year when the National Treasury slashed duty to 10 percent.
