The life, Plight and City of a Blue King: Barn Swallow (Hirundu rustica)

Barbara Geiger; an actress who has interest in biodiversity conservation, uses her acting prowess in describing organisms, their life, their plights and the need for their conservation. She used simple and carefully selected words in a poetic display, communicating science in a non-scientific way. She was able to reach numerous people that knew little or nothing about science and yet spurred them in to action toward conserving biodiversity.

In A.P. Leventist Ornithological Research institute, Jos, Plateau state, nigeria where she was a guest presenter, her play was on Barn swallow. The bird whose scientific name she pronounced with passion and emphasis during her play that was supported by power point pictures only, is the most widespread species of swallows in the world.  It morphologically has blue upper parts, a rufous colour around its throat and underparts and a forked tail with curved pointed wings.

Barn swallows historically originated from Africa, but migrated up North to America and other parts of Europe, just as is the case in the evolution of man. They use geo-magnetic field with the help of an inbuilt geo-locators. They have sensors which help in detecting the earth’s magnetic fields, hence they migrate from Africa to America and back to Africa without much location problems.  The birds can hear infra-sound just as they can see ultra-lights that makes their vision more magnificent.Some of the birds during their migration, use land marks like valleys, Rivers etc to trace their routes.

Barn swallows are monogamous throughout their life, but extra pair copulation is not lacked among them. Pairs migrate separately, and wait for each other’s return. Mostly, the males clean old nests, and the female join him in building the nest with clay. They feed the young ones together instinctively.

These birds which migrate from the South to the North, return to the South (Africa) mostly in two directions. Some follow western route and pass through West Africa. they try to avoid moving deeply in to sahara desert. Others, use the Eastern route and move down to South Africa. Some millions of them spread in South Africa, but in West Africa, a place called, ‘’the swallow’s city,’’ was named after them. The city is found in Ebakkan (Boje) in Cross River state of Nigeria. Myriads of them return to Africa and settled in that place. At dusk, they return to the city with tall elephant grasses, shrubs and few trees, and they roost on the grasses. At dawn, they all fly to different directions in search of food.

Barn swallows have ecological problems; they are caught in places like Egypt and some parts of Africa for food. Conservationists like Barbara, were able to convince many people to abandon eating the birds. Wind also can blow them off their coast during migration, and some end up dying in the desert with other  different birds. They are bio-indicators of chemical contamination; they are quick to die when they ingest insects that contain insecticides. Hence, joining hands to conserve the birds, is the best thing people need to do; Hirundu rustica, deserves to live among us or around us.

Needless or Needful? Answering the Question of Foraging and Vigilance in the Survival of Red-cheeked Cordon-bleu within Amurum Forest reserve, Jos, Plateau state, Nigeria

Birds generally play significant roles in maintaining balance within the ecosystem. Finches are often used in studying evolution and in tracing possibilities of speciation. Many finches were studied in captivity, and so much is needed to be done on studying birds within the natural environment. What do they do to survive in the natural environment? This question need answers. Red-Cheeked cordon-bleu are beautiful finches with blue and rufous colours, with the males having unmistakable red colour around their cheeks. These birds have silently suffered from threat related problems within their environment, and only few studies mentioned it, as studying animals’ behavior and relating it to the threats emanating from the environment is a herculean task faced by ecologists.

Some birds move in a flock or associate with other flocks of different species. Why is it so? Animals in the wild environment needs to feed and avoid been fed upon by their predator. They tend to move in flocks to have high advantage over their predators. When birds are in flock, they can easily detect predators than when they are alone. When they are in flock, they have many eyes and many ears to sight or hear the predators coming. They usually raise their heads up to scan for predators. Though it is true that being in flocks help them in anti-predatory vigilance, but their vigilance rate, tend to reduce when they are in flocks too. 

 A brief study was carried in Amurum Forest Reserve in Jos, Plateau state, Nigeria. The study aimed at finding out if flock size affects vigilance in the birds. It also aimed at determining whether vigilance differ between sexes in the Red-cheeked cordon-bleu. Why this research was necessary, was to use the vigilance in determining the extent of threats faced by the birds in the natural environment and what the birds do to feed and avoid being fed upon by their predators. Different flocks of Red-cheeked Cordon-bleu were observed using binocular; a focal sampling was carried. Head-downs was used as an index of none—vigilance, while head-ups was used as an index of vigilance. Number of heads-up were counted per minute in each flock for three days. The outcome of the study showed that, there is relationship between flock size of Red-cheeked Cordon bleu and their vigilance. The result also showed that, males are more vigilant than the females while in the natural environment. What could this outcome means in the ecology of these beautiful birds and the threats they faced in the environment? When the birds are in lower number within a flock, their vigilance seem to increase for fear of predators that prey upon them while foraging. The vigilance rate tend to reduce with increasing number of individuals of same species or different associating species because of many eyes advantage with portray the truth that, the higher the flock size, the more easy is the detectability of predators. The study has the highest number of head-up (vigilance) of thirty five, and lower vigilance of seven.

 Flock size of twenty four, had estimated vigilance of seven while flock size of two, had the estimated vigilance of thirty nine. This indicates that, the more the flock size of the birds, the more their vigilance reduces, and the fewer they are in the flock, the more their vigilance against predators increased. The males in their protective behavior, tend to have high vigilance than the females. Vigilance, is a necessity for the survival of birds and other wild animals. The more vigilant a bird is, can be used in determining the extent of threat face by the bird within the environment. Most of the threats can either be natural or anthropogenic. In relation to the outcome of the study, we want to suggest that, planting of more trees and shrubs will help in increasing the security of birds generally, in the reserve and anywhere in a forests. Most birds need cover to hide from predators, and to avoid heat stress that can affect their physiology.

Brief study carried by:

Williams Michael Manja

And

Ibrahim Josiah kalaks

Harmattan on Horse' Back

The harmattan's wind is blowing,

Men are already in the field;
Life arrived on horse' back,
The sun smiled from its nest;
Give me my binocular,
I want to go birding
Give me my field guide;
I have seen new species;
Harmattan wind is blowing,
And men are in the field;

I heard peace arriving,
Laughing doves were calling,
Gonolek answered too soon;
But the raptors were swimming
Joyfully in the morning breeze;
Give me my binor,
Give me my field guide ;
Our harmattan has arrived
Life has resurrected because the
Breeze brought healings along.

The leaves were dancing,
Scavenger birds called for truce;
Men were boys, and boys are now men,
The time change like Attenborough`s venture,
And our harmattan has arrived again;
The leaves sang with camaroptera
And men were working in the forest;
Children should fly their kites,
Women should winnow the chaff,
But men are already working in the breeze.