Roseate terns account for 90

per cent ofternsthat breed

on these islands. On Whale
Island and Kisite, the only other
seabird that breeds is the Sooty
Tern but in small numbers. In
Kiunga and Tenewe, in addition
to the Roseate and Sooty terns
there are also Bridled tern,
Brown Noddy, Sooty Gull and
others.
It is estimated that roughly
8,000 roseates come to the
Kenyan coast to breed. This
is about ten per cent of the
estimated global population,
making Kenya one of its
strongholds. Unfortunately, it is
difficult to be sure of the actual
numbers of terns breeding
in Kenya and whether they
are increasing or decreasing.
Poor security and complicated
logistics has meant that terns
breeding in Kiunga and Tenewe
islands have not been counted
in over 40 years. This is a
significant gap in information
because these two locations
account for over 50 per cent of
the estimated tern numbers in
Kenya. A lot may have changed
in 40 years and current
breeding population estimates
may be very different from the

actual population.
However, there is some
information available. A Rocha
Kenya (ARK) in collaboration
with Kenya Wildlife Service
(KWS) has been monitoring
terns at Whale Island for over
12 years. Terns are highly
mobile, and in order to fully
understand what is happening
to the tern population, all
breeding sites need to be
monitored simultaneously.
With that in mind, ARK
and KWS teamed up with
Global Vision International
(GVI) to begin a monitoring
programme in Kisite in 2012.
Hopefully, Kiunga and Tenewe
will also be monitored once
the challenges are overcome.

understanding the dynamics

of these species we can
come up with management
and conservation strategies
to ensure that these seabird
visitors continue to have a
safe haven on our shores.
Martin Mwema is an
Associate Researcher at
A Rocha Kenya (ARK)
specializing in seabird
research.
Jaap Gijsbertsen is the
Director of Science and
Conservation at ARK.
Zeno Wijtten is the
Director at Global Vision
International (GVI)

Monitoring and research is

important because seabirds
are good indicators of what
is happening in the marine
environment and this can
serve as an early warning
system of any imbalances in
the system. In addition, by

Roseate tern adult

10

Komba 3 2014

Massive Mammal Migration Through the Sudd of

White-eared kob Antelope

he Sudd wetlands
of southern Sudan
nourished by the White
Nile are home to more
than 800,000 Whiteeared kob, best known
for their annual migration. It
rivals the wildebeest migration
of the Serengeti-Maasai Mara.
A chestnut coloured and
medium-sized antelope, the
White-eared kob is joined by
tiang antelopes and Mongalla
gazelles to form enormous
migrating herds of more than
1.2 million individuals. Columns
of these animals can stretch
80 kilometers long and 50
kilometers across.
12

White-eared Kob migration map

White-eared kob inhabit moist

grasslands across East and
West Africa, but found in great
numbers only in Boma National
Park region of Southern
Sudan. The animals splayed
hooves (similar to the sitatunga
antelope) enable them to thrive
in seasonal floodplains, and
they move between wet and dry
areas, searching for food and
water. Routes of migration vary,
depending on the distribution of
rainfall and floods.
During Sudans violent civil war
from 1983 to 2005, there was
no conservation work in the
region and nobody knew if the
migration still happened or if

the animals had been poached.

To everyones amazement,
when surveys were done after
the war, it was discovered
that White-eared kob had not
only survived but thrived in
numbers. The world was awed.
Fast Facts
Scientific Name
(Kobus kob leucotis)

Kob males fiercely defend

tiny mating territories that are
clustered together on traditional mating grounds called
leks, attracting females when
they are ready to breed.
Komba 3 2014

Chocolate brown adult

males are easily distinguished
from the light tan females.

Challenges
Challenges to the migration
include uncontrolled and unsustainable hunting with automatic weapons.
Development of a road
network across their migratory routes may interfere with
movement patterns. It could
increase commercial hunters
and wildlife trade.
Development of oil extraction and commercial agriculture.
Possible plans to drain the
Sudd swamp.

Did you know?

A male kob whistles to make
sure others are aware of the
boundaries of his mating
territory.

Size relative to a 6-ft (2-m)

man

Only the males have striking, S-shaped horns that bend

sharply backward before curving up.

Male and female kob antelope

are easily distinguished: The
males have chocolate brown
hides and the females are light
tan.
Protection status
None

White-Eared Kob Range

Mites on Feathers

By Peter Muriithi, Nature Kenya

ites are found

on all birds, living
in their feathers.
Mites are very tiny
creatures, related
to ticks. On birds,
however, it is a symbiotic
relationship where the bird
and the mite benefit from each
other.
Mites feed on oil or fungi found
on the birds feathers. By
Komba 3 2014

cleaning the birds feathers, the

mites help the bird stay healthy.
Birds moult at least once a
year. They shed their feathers
for new ones to grow. They
usually shed their feathers a
few at a time.
If you find a feather on the
ground, dropped during
moulting, it will be infested by
mites. Mites burrow into the
shaft (the stiff central part) of
the feathers. They make very

tiny holes in the shaft of the

feathers. It does not harm the
birds, but they do become
irritated and start plucking the
feathers out.
Note: not all feathers dropped
are safe to collect; they might
be infested with mites and lice
and could affect you.
By Peter Muriithi is the membership
recruitment officer at Nature Kenya
and an ornithological guide www.
naturekenya.org
13

16

Komba 3 2014

Photo Courtesy of Zeno Wijtten

Humpback Whale blow

komba 3 2014

Komba 3 2014

17

Martha

A moving story of an American passenger pigeon

(Ectopistes migratorius)

By Geoffroy Mauvais, PAPACO coordinator

n the first
of September,
1914, 100 years
ago, Martha died
at the Cincinnati
Zoo (USA).

She was the last of her

species, the American
passenger pigeon (Ectopistes
migratorius).
This species was still present
in large numbers throughout
the North American continent
during the nineteenth century.
Estimates of the flocks added
up to billions of individuals.
It was an elegant bird, forty
centimeter long, thin and
agile. It ate fruits, seeds, and
insects.
The passenger pigeon
nested in incredible colonies
gathering millions of birds
over a few square kilometers.
When they arrived in an
area, they formed clouds
several kilometers long which
obscured the sun, darkened
the sky and immersed

18

observers almost into the

night. They settled on all
possible perches and tree
branches, sometimes causing
whole tree to crash. Some
surveys counted more than
two billion birds that gathered
to migrate together at the
same place.
In 1830, Jean Jacques
Audubon, the famous
American naturalist, while
watching the arrival of a
migratory flight said:
The sky was literally filled
with pigeons, the noonday
was obscured as by an
eclipse; droppings rained like
snowflakes melting. Pigeons
continued to arrive in numbers
still important for three
consecutive days...
These migratory pigeons
were indestructible. Yet they
were easy prey because it
was so easy to shoot them at
random in the sky. Machinelike guns were developed
specifically to harvest them

and competitions arranged to

see who could shoot the most
pigeons. One had to shoot at
least 30,000. Some burned
the trees to take more at night,
and then came the nets.
The Passenger pigeons
declined - its strength (the
ability to live in countless
troops) was its weakness
(their inability to live alone).
By the end of the 19th century,
there were virtually no
migratory birds left - only rare
ones in captivity.
It was never possible to raise
the passenger pigeon in the
solitude of a cage.
Martha was the last to remain.
In her cage, at the zoo, in
Cincinnati, USA, she was
the only survivor of billions
of birds slaughtered for no
reason in a few decades.
Adapted from News from
African Protected Areas N78
September 2014

Komba 3 2014

Photo by Peter Usher

Barn Swallows migrate

from Kenya to Europe or
Asia to nest.

Komba 3 2014

19

ird migration is
one of the wonders
of the world. Most
birds stay in one area
all their lives. Others
move locally in search
of food or nest sites. Some
birds, however, fly thousands
of kilometers and across
continents, twice a year.

Why do they migrate?

The two main reasons for
migration are to search for food
and safe breeding (nesting)
sites. In Europe and Asia
during the warm season (spring
and summer), there is plenty
of food: insects, frogs, rodents,
fruits and seeds. There is
daylight for many hours each
day in which to search for
food. Only a few kinds of birds
survive the cold season, so
there is not much competition
for nest sites. Birds can raise
one or two large broods of
young ones.
When winter comes, however,
life can be difficult for birds.
Insects die, frogs bury in the
ground, rodents hide, fruits and
seeds are no longer available.
Some kinds of birds manage
to stay in Europe and Asia
throughout the cold season.
Others take off, flying to
warmer places further south.
More than 100 different kinds of
birds fly from Europe and Asia
20

Three species of migratory birds captured in the Museums

gardens, Nairobi, in one morning. From left to right: Thrush
Nightingale Luscinia luscinia, Common Whitethroat Sylvia
communis, Willow Warbler Phylloscopus trochilus

Bird M

By Titus Imboma and Fleur Ngweno

all the way to Kenya. These

include large birds like eagles
and ducks, and tiny birds like
swallows. They often arrive in
Kenya with the short rains, and
find plenty of insects and other
food. They feed well for several
months and grow strong. And
then, amazingly, they fly back
to the place where they were
born, to mate and raise their
young.

How do they migrate?

Migration is an enormous
effort for the birds. They need

their young in time, before they

take off again. The young will
have to migrate thousands of
kilometers from home to an
unknown different continent
where they have never been
before.
Scientists are still learning how
birds make these extraordinary
journeys. Many small birds
migrate at night, using the
positions of the stars to guide
them. Migrating at night also
helps them to avoid predators.
Large birds such as storks and
birds of prey usually fly by day.

A remarkable part of

migration is a birds
ability to migrate across
continents, and then find
the exact same place
again.
to be able to fly thousands
of kilometers, twice a year.
They have to find food in very
different habitats in their
birthplace, in Kenya and in the
lands in between. They adjust
to different day lengths and
different seasons. They need
to find enough time to moult
shedding and replacing their
feathers. And they have to raise

They soar on thermals warm

air rising from land warmed
by the sun to save energy
by not flapping their wings.
Experienced adult birds that
have survived migration in
previous years use landmarks
that they have seen before.
Such landmarks include
mountains, the Rift Valley,
seashores, streams and major
Komba 3 2014

d Migration
rivers. It is thought that some
birds also use the magnetic
fields of the earth.
To reach Europe or Asia, many
migrating birds have to fly over
the desert or the sea, where
they cannot land to feed. So
before leaving, some birds eat
and eat and accumulate layers
of fat under their skin. These
provide the necessary energy
for long distance flight.

How do we know all this?

In the past 100 years, people
have learned a lot about
migration through ringing,
also called banding. Trained
scientists catch birds, and
identify, weigh and measure
them. Then they fit a tiny band,
or ring, of aluminium on one
leg. The bird is then released;
the ring is so light that it does
not weigh down the bird. On
the ring, there is a number and
some words. In the case of
birds ringed in Kenya, it says
Inform Museum Nairobi.
When a ringed bird is caught
again, or sadly found dead, the
number and words on the ring
is reported. Then we find out
where and when the bird was
ringed. In this way, we learned
that birds ringed in Kenya fly to
Europe and Asia.
A remarkable part of migration
is a birds ability to migrate
Komba 3 2014

across continents, and then find

the exact same place again.
Birds ringed at their nest in
Europe have flown back to the
same tree or building to nest
the next year. Here in Kenya,
on 28 January 2014, the
Nairobi Ringing Group caught
a Garden Warbler with a ring. It
had been ringed on 29 January
2013 at the same place the
museum grounds. In between,
the Garden Warbler had
traveled to Europe or Asia and
back.
Bird ringing takes place
regularly at two sites in Kenya:
the National Museums of
Kenya in Nairobi and Watamu
in Kilifi County. In November
and December, many small
birds migrate through Tsavo
West National Park, and a
ringing station is set up at
Ngulia Lodge for a few weeks.
(For information about visiting
these ringing sites, contact
the Nairobi Ringing Group
care of Kenya Bird Map
<kenyabirdmap@naturekenya.
org> or A Rocha Kenya at www.
arocha.org/kenya)

Threats to migrating birds

Migrating birds face many
dangers. Human activities
threaten their breeding
grounds, their wintering
grounds (where they spend
the non-breeding season) and
the route they follow. Birds fly

across political boundaries,

and activities in one country
will affect a bird species
throughout its range. For
example the proposed Lamu
Port project will convert a lot
of natural forest, savanna and
seashore into infrastructure,
and migrating birds will be
displaced. Birds migrating
between Europe and Africa are
trapped in massive numbers,
especially in Malta and along
the Egyptian coast, and sold as
food. In addition to habitat loss
and trapping, threats include
electricity transmission cables,
wind turbines, pollution and
poisoning.

Nature conservation
and bird migration
Look for migrant birds wherever
you are, in acacia trees, in
school grounds and gardens,
in national parks, on seashores
and lakeshores. Protecting
wetlands is particularly
important, since nearly half
of the migratory birds visiting
Kenya are water birds.
Islands of natural vegetation,
such as the beautiful Botanic
Gardens at the National
Museums of Kenya in
Nairobi, are also important
for smaller birds. Planting a
tree or rehabilitating a wetland
provides a stepping stone for
migrants to feed and move on.
Each one of us can do it right
from where we are.
21

WCK
NEWS

We want to hear a
powerful voice of a
new generation in all
aspects of the future
for protected areas.

he IUCN World Parks

Congress is a global
forum on protected
areas held every ten
years. Building on the
theme Parks, people,
planet: inspiring solutions,
there were presentations
and discussions on original
approaches for conservation
and development to address the
conservation and sustainable
development agenda.

agenda and reach new

commitments to conservation,
development and business
sectors.

Objectives of the 2014 Congress:

1. Position: protect areas
within goals of economic and
community wellbeing.

3. Demonstrate how this can

be achieved.

She gave a presentation on

Engaging the youth in the
conservation of key ecosystems
in Kenya under the Congress
Stream of Inspiring a New
Generation (ING) with a video
on the activities of WCK. The
22 champions from Africa
presented a global E-Poster
on innovative ways to ensure
the conservation of Africas
protected areas.

The Congress aims were to

communicate solutions to
global challenges, position
protected areas in the post2015 sustainable development

The WCK presentation was

that the future of Kenya lies in
the youth. The battle against
biodiversity loss cannot be won
without the active participation

2. Achieve understanding of
their vital role in conserving
biodiversity while delivering
ecosystem services.

22

Twenty-two
champions
were selected by the Program
on African Protected Areas
& Conservation (PAPACO)
to attend. Margaret Otieno,
WCK national coordinator
was selected from Kenya to
represent the organization.

of everyone - especially the

youth.

Way forward
Build capacity of the youth
in environmental conservation
Enhance their skills in starting conservation projects
Instill a commitment to environmental stewardship in
Kenyas next generation
Encourage sustainable lifestyles.
Inspiring a New Generation
is one of the eight streams
of the WPC. Its purpose is
to empower the growth of an
enduring global initiative for a
new generation to experience,
connect with, be inspired by,
value, and conserve nature.

Connecting people to nature

Its important to ensure that
future generations care about
and take the necessary steps
to conserve nature both within
and beyond protected areas.
However,

many

young

Komba 3 2014

The patron demonstrating Gum Harvesting

Echariria D.E.B Primary School

Regional Award Report

chariria primary
school is in Mbaruk
location, Gilgil subcounty. It is built on
a hill. The ground
is rocky in Echariria
village. The school started in
1992 has 870 pupils- both girls
and boys.

Since it is in a rocky area, it is

difficult for any tree to survive
drought. However through
the Education for Sustainable
Development training that the
patron participated at Giraffe
Center, the school has been
planting trees with the WCK
with assistance from the friends
of the club and the Echariria
community.
The school and the village are
being transformed from dry
and dusty to healthy green.
The WCK club at school
26

spearheads all environmental,

health, wildlife and other
conservation activities. Some of
these activities include:

Clean ups along the Old

Nakuru-Nairobi highway with
assistance from Soysambu
Conservancy, Serena and
Lake Elementaita Lodges.
Tree planting with support from Soysambu, Serena
Hotels, Total eco-challenge
and African Forest.
Seed collection.
Building bird feeding tables
and baths.
Water harvesting with the
Green Schools Bank from
the Ministry of Environment.
Rotary club donated the water tank.

Conservation of the indigenous trees like the yellow

Acacia for gum harvesting.

The school participated in the

International Bird Migratory Day
2013 at Lake Elementaita.

Greening Kenya through

Education
The Mbaruk/Echereria
community used to send
their children to Soysambu
Conservancy to fetch firewood
and poach trees for charcoal.
The WCK members with former
students have tirelessly worked
to involve the community in
conservation.
The school has a motto
Greening Kenya through
Education .
The Club plans to plant 3000
trees by 2015 December.

Komba 3 2014

ne of the wonders of
the natural world is the
twice-yearly Serengeti
migration.

Every June, nearly

2 million herbivores begin
marching northwards from the
Tanzanian part of the Serengeti
plain towards the northern
hills in Kenyas Maasai Mara
national reserve, following the
rains to avoid the dry season.
Every October, once the higher
pastures have been fully

grazed, they make the reverse

journey from the Maasai Mara
back to the now green pastures
of the southern Serengeti.
The journey is about 1,500
kilometers in each direction
and the enormous herds
include 1.4 million wildebeest
and 200,000 zebra and
gazelle.
The experience of migration
begins when wildebeest are
just a few months old. Many
animals fall from exhaustion
or are picked off by predators

during the journey. The most

dangerous part is the crossing
of the Mara river where many
are taken by crocodiles, or
lions waiting for them on the
other side.
It had been assumed that
the Serengeti migration was
unparalleled. But the revelation
that there are herds of Whiteeared kob in southern Sudan
in numbers that scientists
believe may even exceed
the wildebeest herds has
challenged that.

Wandering Wildebeest
Photo by Raju Mangat

30

Komba 3 2014

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31

32

Komba 3 2014