ABSTRACT
The Red-billed Quelea is the major avian pest of preharvest cereals in grassland Africa, south of the Sahara. Breeding colonies in the order of 10 birds occur in the late rains/early dry season coinciding with the production of seeds from ripening annual grasses. Night roosts frequently contain numbers in the order of 10 birds and occur throughout the dry season/early rains period. Both nesting colonies and night roosts are found in the wide variety of vegetation, dense Acacia, Zizyphus, and Typha being commonly used. Flocks are best counted as they are departing the roost at dawn. Observers count all flocks in marked sectors of the roost and estimate the numbers in each flock. Then these counts are used as samples to determine number in the roost.
