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Red billed quelea (Quelea quelea)

[Page Reviewed December 2006]

Description

This is a small red-billed finch (~ 13 cm). The body of the male is dull-buff in colour, with a black mask in the breeding season and browner streaked wings. The female is paler in colour and does not have a mask.

Food and Damage

This species prefers to consume the seeds of wild grasses rather than those of cultivated cereals (rice wheat, sorghum, millet), but as it can congregate in groups of a million birds or more, its effect on grain crops (caused by eating and flattening them) can be devastating. The species also eats termites and other insects at certain times of the year.

Behaviour

Quelea are often found on the ground, feeding on weed seeds. When in large numbers a flock on the ground appears to 'flow' as the birds behind fly over those in front to feed.

This bird is very social and migrates in enormous flocks (see above) in patterns associated with seasonal rain fronts. This brings the bird's breeding period in a given area into conjunction with the development of ripening grain. Breeding colonies typically consist of over 100 000 individuals. Often the bird will be abundant in an area one year and almost absent the next.

Habitat

The bird is found in dry savannah and grassland areas as well as cultivated zones.

Natural Distribution

The Quelea is a bird which occurs and migrates over areas south of the Sahara in Africa.

Introduced Distribution

This bird has not be introduced into any countries so far.

References

• Pinowski, J. and Kendeigh, S. C. (eds) (1977). Granivorous Birds in Ecosystems. International Biological Programme 12. Cambridge University Press, London, New York.
• Wright, E. N., Inglis, I. R. and Feare, C. J. (eds) (1980). Bird Problems in Agriculture. Proceedings of a Conference "Understanding Agricultural Bird Problems". BCPC Publications, London.