They Appear As A Black Cloud In The Sky

Red-billed Quelea Birds

Believe it or not, but this is a swarm of birds.

            During the summer months the Free State would be invaded by huge swarms of ‘Rooibekkies’ from over our country’s borders.   These were the small Quelea birds which would cause terrible destruction in seeding crops.   A huge swarm flying in the sky was quite a sight to see and farmers would hope that they would soon pass over.   They landed in their thousands in our gum trees and commenced building their nests immediately.   Beautiful little nests were built low down in the trees, low enough for a little boy to peek inside.   My sisters, who were collectors of bird eggs, would remove some of the pretty blue eggs and after
making tiny holes in both ends, would blow out the contents and add them to their collections.

            Red-billed Quelea grows to about 12.5 cm long and 15 to 20 g weight.   During the breeding season the male is distinguished by its more colorful plumage and red bill.    

Breeding plumage in male queleas is unusually variable: comprising a facial mask which ranges from black to white in color, and breast and crown plumage which varies from yellowish to bright red.   For the rest of the year male plumage resembles that of the female, which is a cryptic beige coloration.   The female's bill is yellow during the breeding, and red during the non-breeding season.

            The food of the Red-billed Quelea consists of annual grasses, seeds and grain.   As soon as the sun comes up, they come together in their huge flocks and co-operate in finding a suitable feeding place.   After a successful search, they settle rapidly and can cause serious damage to crops.   In the middle part of the day they rest in shady areas near water and preen.   Birds seem to prefer drinking at least twice a day.   In the late afternoon they once again fly in search of food.   Other birds known to live extensively off of queleas include herons, storks, raptors, owls, hornbills, rollers, kingfishers and shrikes.

            My dad made a trap cage with a funnel entrance and would put fine crushed mealies inside in the evening.   Early the next morning the trap would be swarming with Rooibekkies.   The kwediens and I would kill them and make a fire to braai the little birds.   You would put the whole bird, feathers and all in the coals and soon you would have your own braai.   Just brush all the burnt feathers off, pull off the heads and remove the entrails which are called derms en binnegoed in Afrikaans, salt the roasted birds and eat the breasts and little thighs,   It would take many birds to fill a boy’s stomach.   There would still be thousands of birds and you would have a feast again tomorrow and the days following.   As far as I can remember, my sisters were too squeamish to join in the feast.

We did not grow wheat so I do not know what destruction these birds caused on our farm   I can clearly remember the sound of dynamite exploding in the Blue Gum plantation of our neighbours at night.   I heard that they would collect wheelbarrow loads of dead birds to incinerate.   It still did not make any difference and the swarms in the sky were still as dark as ever.

            From the Internet I have the following information: - “The breeding males first weave half-complete ovoid nests from grass and straw.   After the female has examined the construction and the mating has occurred, both partners complete the weaving of the nest.   The female lays two to four light blue eggs, and incubates them for twelve days.   After the chicks hatch, they are nourished for some days with caterpillars and protein-rich insects.   After this time parents change to mainly feeding seeds.   The young birds fledge and become independent enough to leave their parents after approximately two weeks in the nest

The distribution area of the Red-billed Quelea covers most of sub-Saharan Africa, excluding the rain forest areas and parts of South Africa. They are regarded as pests by farmers because of their greed, and often compared with locusts, which fall upon grain and rice fields.   Since they have hardly any natural enemies, their population is enormous, some 1.5 billion individuals.   Even extreme control measures such as dynamiting the nest colonies and use of organophosphate poisons have not significantly reduced their numbers.

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