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Thanks Lizet - will now carry on swotting!

On a recent trip to Kruger I was amazed at the number of Red-Billed Queleas around LS and Satara! One afternoon we witnessed a flock of Red-Billed Queleas which flew over hed for about 5minutes!
Can these birds become a plague or have they been like this always!

Marx!

From "Best Birding in Kruger" by Brett hilton Barber and Lou Berger...

"There are more RBQs on earth than any other bird. Roberts estimates that there are 1 500 billion birds in the world. That is about 300 million for every human. There are more RBQs in Kruger than any other species, with an estimated 33,5 million birds moving seasonaly in and around the Park. They account for 50% of the avian biomass in Kruger moving in flocks of up to a million birds that nest en masse in Acacia trees with 50-3000 nests per tree.. "

MM,
33.5 million? That's a lot of birds!I have seen huge flocks of ducks in the thousands, but can't imagine that many birds together. When do they arrive at Kruger?

Normana.. more from the birder man:

"Watching RBQs feed is like watching a Mexican wave at a football crowd. The birds descend in their thousands on the ground, with the flock taking on a "roller feeding movement" in which the flocks at the back continually hop over the ones in front to get the food."

When I watch them I am reminded of a shoal of fish where one fish turns and the whole shoal turns in one syncronised ballet movement.. it is amazing. In March the trees are thickly laded as they prepare to leave. I have seem bushes completely covered by these very tiny little birds.

They are always there, mostly in small flocks. But the concentrate in areas of food abundance. So when there is i.e. good grass seeds available in an area, you will find millions.

This is one of the species that has thrived on human society. Our mono crop agriculture has boosted their numbers considerably. They are considered a major agricultural pest, and has been subjected to major reduction programs ... with little or no success. They have been poisoned, blown up in their sleeping sites, shot ... no success!

We have a special place we go to, next to the Olifants river. There is some nice reeds where these birds sleep. You will see flock after flock of birds arrive before sunset, and disappear in to the reeds ... the only sign of them ... the singing increases as thousands upon thousands arrive, every few minutes. Magic ...

Then when it gets gloomy ... sudden silence!

The Roberts Bird Guide (Kruger National Park) by Hugh Chittenden and Ian Whyte agrees with your souce. It estimates that there are 33 million queleas in the Kruger in good years (wet) and in drought years this number drops. I certainly saw lots of them this year.

Does this look familiar Marx?

Normana53 I cant believe it either!!

Eagle Owl that is exactly what we saw and they would fly over for ten minutes!!

Marx!

Even if they are considered pests, I would love to see a huge flock of even half a million Queleas. I once had about five hundred Evening Grosbeaks (a north American Bird similar in size and shape to a Thick-Billed Weaver) in my front yard at one time.It was fascinating to watch them forage, and even more amazing to watch them all take off and fly away in unison. I can't even imagine a million birds in synchronised flight. It seems it would darken the sky!

Here a few pics taken Dec. 2009 in KNP:

A couple taken today...

Great close-up well done!

Thanks Lizet. I was actually getting tired of them, every time the swarm took off it sounded like a vacuum cleaner on steroids.