Weaver news

Red-billed Quelea flies 1735 km just to be eaten!

2009-12-04 (36)


On 27 October 2009 a group of South Africans visited Rovuma Village near Balama, Cabo Delgado in Mozambique. They were part of a group of 4x4 enthusiasts on a 5 week venture. Late in the afternoon some local women were busy cooking and one of them brought a metal object to the South Africans. The metal ring had been found in one of the pots used for cooking soup, and was inscribed with a SAFRING number AM62067. This bird (Quelea quelea) had been ringed on 27 January 2007 as an adult female at Nokeng Buffelsdrif in Pretoria (25°35'S 28°20'E) by Chris du Plooy. The ring recovery was reported on 29 October 2009 from Rovuma Village (13°18'S 38°34'E) by Eric Dry. This bird moved 1735 km in 2 years 9 months.
(source: story sent by Gerrie Jansen van Rensburg).