Indian House crows pose big threat to tourism, agriculture and native species
Indian House crows fly at the Mwakirunge Dumpsite in Mombasa
What you need to know:
- The crows have reduced the number of small indigenous birds in the region, ripping their nests apart while targeting eggs and even chicks.
- According to Dr Colin Jackson, a conservationist and bird expert working with A Rocha Kenya in Malindi, some indigenous birds are on the verge of disappearing because of the crows.
Indian House crows are wreaking havoc in parts of Coast region and have been described as invasive pests. They have become a menace, scavenging on almost everything; including preying on endangered bird species.
The crows have reduced the number of small indigenous birds in the region, ripping their nests apart while targeting eggs and even chicks.
An Indian House Crow perches on a table in search of food at Reef Hotel in Mombasa in this photo taken in 2015.
Some of the worst affected species are Scaly Babblers, Mouse-coloured Sunbird, Weavers, Waxbills and aquatic birds found along the coastal region.
According to Dr Colin Jackson, a conservationist and bird expert working with A Rocha Kenya (a global family of conservation organisations) in Malindi, some indigenous birds are on the verge of disappearing because of the crows.
"When the bird population declines, the environment begins to suffer. Other pests and insects start to increase. So the crows will have a ripple effect not just on the single species they have attacked," said Dr Jackson.
An Indian Crow perches on dry palm tree leaves at Mama Ngina Waterfront in Mombasa on February 9.
If not controlled, conservationists say the crow population might invade special habitats such as Arabuko Sokoke Forest, which is a protected national reserve. The habitat is home to birds such as the Sokoke Scops Owl (Otus ireneae), which are predominantly associated and unique to the Coast region.
Some hotels in the region such as Turtle Bay in Watamu have come up with ways to control the population of the voracious crows.
They are using Larsen traps to lure the target birds. One device is capable of trapping between 50-60 crows within a week.
Mr Damian Davies, the general manager of the hotel, said: "We can capture up to 200 crows in a month but the birds breed faster.”
In urban areas, crows often scavenge for garbage and human food.
Mr Davies noted that the crows always have a way of finding food, which includes snatching food from guests in hotels. This has been a major problem, forcing the management of some hotels to hire staff to chase the crows away with catapults.
“We also have a big population of the golden palm weaver birds that have been here for 50 years, as old as the hotel. But the crows steal their eggs and destroy their nests, scaring the birds away. So we have to hire security guards to patrol the area and keep the crows away," added Mr Davies.
Their aggressive appetite for food has led them to farms, where they feed on germinating crops and attack chicks and calves by gouging out their eyes.
Mr Mwanjani Runya, a poultry farmer in Kwa Bulo, Nyali, said he has been forced to paint his chicks using green or red colour to scare away the crows.
"I have to keep monitoring the chicks for a month because the crows can even carry up to 20 chicks in a day. They move in huge numbers. They are intelligent and some distract the mother hens and ducks while another group awaits to attack the chicks," said Mr Runya.
Eric Kinoti, a conservationist at A Rocha Kenya, records data of crows trapped inside a Larsen trap at Turtle Bay Hotel in Watamu
The invasion of the Indian House Crows (Corvus Splendens) into Kenya dates back to 1947, when the birds were first spotted in Mombasa. The House crows are not indigenous to Kenya as they came from Zanzibar.
According to A Rocha Kenya, the crows were brought from India by the then governor of Zanzibar with the aim of cleaning up rubbish
Decades later after their arrival, the crows spread, encroaching the mainland and migrating further to the East African coast. "Fifteen years later there was a bounty for the head of every crow in Zanzibar because they had proliferated so much and were causing problems. People were getting paid to kill them. It may have worked to keep the numbers down but the birds were not eliminated," said Dr Jackson.
In 2005, strides were made to eliminate the invasive pests by poisoning them using Starlicide imported from the United States. "In Watamu, the population reduced to five birds and in Malindi we had another 25-30 birds," said Dr Jackson.
An Indian house crow bird.
But three years later, the product was banned. The Pest Control and Products Board suspended the importation of the poison on grounds that the person who shipped the first consignment into the country had failed to adhere to the set regulations.
Since then, the number of the Indian crows continued to explode and the population is currently estimated at nearly 800,000 birds in Kilifi and Mombasa counties.
"Starlicide metabolises rapidly over 10 to 12 hours and birds therefore die at the roost sites after the poisoning, becoming the most efficient way of controlling the menace. If a poisoned crow is found dead, it can be eaten safely by a scavenger such as a dog or a vulture," said a report by A Rocha Kenya.
In 2023, efficacy tests were carried out in Diani and Ukunda by Little Kenya Gardens, the only company with a licence to import the poison in the country.
Pest Control and Products Board(PCPB) issued the permit to the firm after the poison successfully killed all the birds which ate the bait
PCPB now calls for concerted efforts between agencies at both the national and county governments as well as stakeholders in the hospitality industry to eradicate the crow menace entirely.
