International Journal of Research and Scientific Innovation (IJRSI) | Volume IX, Issue VI, June 2022 | ISSN 2321–2705
Evaluation of the Food of Red-Billed Quelea During Dry Season in Gyawana Ecosystem and Environs
Buba, Z.M.1, Sabastian M.M.2, Ussa, J.2
1Department of Zoology, Adamawa State University, Mubi, Adamawa State, Nigeria.
2Department of Botany, Adamawa State University, Mubi, Adamawa State, Nigeria.
Corresponding Author
Abstract: Study on the food items of Red-billed Quelea (Quelea quelea) during dry season in Gyawana ecosystem and environs, Adamawa State, Nigeria, was carried out to ascertain the grains the birds foraged on during the dry season. The bird’s crop contents were analysed. Eighteen (18) different food items were identified which including seeds of different grasses, cultivated cereals, insect remains and Grits from the crops of one hundred and fifty (150) Quelea birds (Quelea quelea) sampled during the study period. In terms of frequency and magnitude of occurrence in the feed, Oryza barthi appears to be the most consumed food of Red-billed Quelea with (43.4%) total prevalence, followed by Oryza sativa (39.24%), Digitaria iburua (16.69%), Sorghum bicolor (9.11%), Dactyloctenium aegyptium (8.92%), Setaria pallide-fusca (7.60%), Brachiaria mutica (3.92%), Eragrostis tremule (2.77%), Digitaria ciliaris (0.93%), Chloris pilosa (0.85%), Roetboellia exaltata (0.80%), Echinochloa colonum (0.72%), Cenchrus biflorus (0.63%), Panicum urvilleanum (0.32%), Sacciolepis africana (0.23%), Schoenefeldia gracilis (0.17%), Grits (0.15%), and insects remained (0.07%). The analysis of variance was used to compare the mean number of various seeds consumed by the Red-billed Quelea during the period of study. The result shows no significant difference in the food items consumed by Red-billed Quelea during the dry season. The researchers therefore, recommend that further study should be carryout on the food items of Quelea birds (Q. quelea) during off cropping and raining season, also study should be carry out on Biological control of this Quelea birds (Q. quelea). .
Key words Food items, Red-Billed Quelea, Gyawana, Ecosystem, Environs, Dry Season,
I.INTRODUCTION
The Red-billed Quelea is a small gregarious Afro-tropical weaver bird (Doggett, 1988). The birds live and breed in huge flocks mostly in grassland regions. They are also recorded in other vegetation types but not in rain forests. The species prefers woodlands and grass lands at any altitude below 2000m. Despite its prevalence in ranges dominated by grass matrix, it breeds only in such ranges that have thorny or spiny vegetation (Clancey, 1964; Borello and Cheke, 2011). In Nigeria, Quelea queleas are found in upper Sudan zone, Sahelian or thorny scrub woodland. They are particularly predominant in Borno, Yobe, Adamawa, Sokoto, Jigawa and Kano State (Walter, 1971; Safford, 2013). Vegetation and floristic composition is not uniform throughout Borno State. The distribution range of the Red-billed Quelea covers most of sub-Saharan Africa, excluding the rain forest areas and parts of South Africa (Craig, 2010).