Red-Billed Quelae Bird is one of the most dangerous of all agricultural pests in Africa, and causes food shortages in many countries. The flock breeds at times of abundant rainfall and young are ready to move with the nomadic flock within six weeks,often coinciding with the ripening of grain crops. A nesting colony of Red-billed quelea can extend over hundreds of acres, and a single flock may number millions of birds, moving together in a synchronized fashion. Recent discussions about quelea bird pest control have started to turn towards prediction of breeding based on weather patterns (c) Courtesy EcoPort (http://www.ecoport.org) : C.Elliott.
Red-Billed Quelae Bird Nest The nest is made in the form of a pouch with a roof and an entrance near the top. The male is responsible for the construction which is completed by a remarkable technique of weaving strips of grass back and forth to form a mesh-like structure. This is why the quelea bird is called a ‘weaver bird’. If the nest is accepted by a female, she will enter and in due course produce a clutch of three eggs. (c) Courtesy EcoPort (http://www.ecoport.org) : C.Elliott
Wild Rat (c) Reg Mckenna, wikipedia
Free-range pig keeping (c) S. Gikonyo, Kenya
Angora and Galla goats (c) Anne Bruntse, BioVision
Birds, rodents, monkeys, pigs and domestic animals (cattle, goat and sheep) are common vertebrate pests of cassava.
Measures that help to manage damage by these pests include:
What to do:
Fence farms and set traps in the fence.
Cover exposed roots with soil.
Weed your cassava farm to discourage rodents pests.
Harvest roots as soon as they are mature (James et al., 2000).
