A roost of swallow-tailed kites Chelictinia riocourii and lesser kestrels Falco naumanni near Naro Moru, Kenya

2 Pages·1994·1 MB·English

by  John Mather

Shortcommunications 123
FulldetailshavebeensubmittedtotheEastAfricanRaritiesCommittee, whichhas
acceptedboth records.
We wish to thank Peter Robinson for checking the skins of both species in the
BritishMuseum.
N.E.BakerandEM.Baker,Box23404,DaresSalaam, Tanzania
Scopus 18: 122-123, December 1994 Received 14June 1994
A roost ofSwallow-tailed Kites Chelictinia riocouriiand Lesser
KestrelsFalco naumanni near Naro Moru, Kenya
TheD448roadwhichleadsfromNaroMoruonthewesternslopesofMtKenyatojoin
the B5 Nyeri toNyahurururoad, and whichborders the southern edgeofSolioGame
Park, is excellent for birds of prey at the appropriate season, particularly harriers
Circusspp.,andLesserandWhite-eyedKestrelsFalconaumanniandF.rupicoloides.
Duringthelateafternoonof9 March 1993, we weredrivingslowly alongthisroad
watching several Lesser Kestrels hunting and sitting on fences, when a flock ofthe
samespeciesappearedalongsidethevehicle.Wedisembarkedtocountthem(40birds)
and as we watched noticed several white birds, very high in the sky to the north,
'flashing' againstalargeblackthundercloud.AtfirstwethoughttheymightbeWhite-
winged Black Terns Chlidonias leucopterus but as they drifted nearer and started to
descend, itbecameobviousthattheywereSwallow-tailedKitesChelictiniariocourii.
The straggling line ofbirds continued towards us and began to drop into a clump of
largetrees some300m southoftheroad. Toouramazement,thesetrees werealready
full of Lesser Kestrels and many Swallow-tailed Kites. A small flat-topped acacia
somelittlewaybeyondthelargetreeswascoveredwithkitesandthewholeslopingtop
appearedwhite.Thiswaspresumablyapre-roostingplaceasthekiteseventuallyleftto
join the others inthe largetrees. Allthebirds would occasionally takeflightandmill
about and it was during this activity that we were able to count and estimate their
numbersastheyre-settled.Weweresatisfiedthatatleast250Swallow-tailedKitesand
600LesserKestrels werepresent.
Thefollowingday,inanattempttobeatthesitebeforethebirdsarrivedsothatwe
couldcountthemin, wearrivedat 16:30tofindthe small acaciaalready"white"with
kites and others, together with Lesser Kestrels, in the largertrees. The kestrels were
approachingfromthenorthandwestandbetween 18:15 and 19:05 wecounted400as
theycrossedtheroadtojointheroost,includingaconcentrated90birdswhicharrived
between 18:55 and 19:00. We managed to count 148 kites as they milled around the
trees andestimatedthat atleast250 wereagainpresent, with 600LesserKestrels and
threeBlack-shoulderedKitesE. caeruleus.Wewerenotabletocountanybirdswhich
may have enteredtheroost from the south. Also in the area on 10 March were seven
Eurasian Marsh Harriers Circus aeruginosus, three Montagu's Harriers C.pygargus
andoneWhite-eyed Kestrel.
124 Shortcommunications
It was interestingto speculate on how long the kites had been in the area; perhaps
the roost wasjust atransitory migrant assembly. Whateverthe answer, it wouldhave
beeninterestingtoknowhowfarthekitesdispersedtofeedandwhytheyapproached
theroostatsuchaheight.Threedayslater,on 12and 13March,inMeruNationalPark,
wehadsevenand 15 sightingsofSwallow-tailedKitesrespectively;clearlytherewere
many more in this part of Kenya than is usual. The whole experience was quite
spectacular.
JohnMather,John Cudworth, andGraham T. Foggitt,EagleLodge,Aspintome,
Knareshorough,North Yorkshire,HG5 SEP,England
Scopus 18; 123-124, December 1994 Received 22 October 1994
The Angola SwallowHirundo angolensis nesting in
the Impenetrable Forest, Uganda
The Angola SwallowHirundo angolensis is a common species in open areas around
and within the Bwindi-Impenetrable Forest National Park, southwest Uganda. From
September 1986through August 1987 Imonitoredall nests ofH. angolensisonthree
buildings at the Ruhizha Forest Station (1°02S, 29°46E) of the then Impenetrable
m
ForestReserve.Ruhizhaisat2300 a.s.l. andreceivesanannualrainfallofabout 144
cm (range 113-239cm).Thestation issurroundedbymontaneforestbutanextensive
region ofintensively cultivated land lies offthe northernboundary about 1 km away.
Theclimate, vegetationandfaunaofthis areaaredescribedby Butynski (1984).
Twenty-one nests were monitored. All nests were constructed of mud and grass
m
plastered on tothe walls ofthebuildings 3.5-6 above theground. All were located
undereavesand,therefore, wellprotectedfromrain, windandpredators.Thegreatest
distancebetweenanytwonestswasabout30m.Duringthenestingperiod,theusually
rather silent adult birds became noisy, giving loud chirps and twitters. This was
particularlynoticeable at first light (r. 06:30).
ThenestsandeggswereasdescribedbyChapin(1953),Mackworth-Prajed&Grant
(1960) and Keith et al. (1992). That is, the nests were made ofmud and grass, cup-
shaped, and lined with grass and feathers. The eggs were white, blotched with dark
rufous/rustybrown.
The mean number of eggs in 21 clutches under incubation was 2.76. This is
probably an underestimate as some eggs may have been lost prior to the start of
incubation.Intheninenestsmonitoredpriortolayinganduptothestartofincubation,
themean numberofeggs/clutch was 2.89. All nests hadtwotothree eggs, withthree
eggsbeingthenorm.Eggswereusuallylaidonconsecutivedaysandincubationbegan
soon afterthe lastegg was laid.
The number ofnestlings hatching in 20 nests was 40. This gives a mean of2.00
nestlings/nest. Thus, about 69 per cent ofthe eggs laid hatched. One nest with three