BY RAPHAEL MBUNDA
Early one morning, as I visited my ghost pepper farm on the slopes of Mount Meru, I was greeted by the forest’s hidden musicians. I could not see the cicadas, known as nyenze in Swahili but I could hardly miss their loud, persistent calls. The sound came from every direction, making it difficult to tell exactly where it began.
A little further into the farm, I spotted a flock of birds with long, slender tails and brownish-grey crests. I stood quietly for about two minutes, watching them feed. When I moved closer, they flew to a nearby tree, where they hung upside down in the sun.
They were speckled mousebirds (Colius striatus), and they had been helping themselves to my spinach, leaf buds and peppers. I had to laugh. Even when they raid my crops, I still love watching them. As boys, we used to catch these cheeky birds in traps baited with pawpaw seeds and fruit.
Ghost peppers may be painfully hot to us but birds are much less sensitive to capsaicin, the compound that gives chillies their heat. When birds eat ripe chillies and pass the seeds elsewhere, they can help new plants grow. Watching the flock among my peppers brought that small act of seed dispersal close to home.
Speckled mousebirds are often seen feeding in chattering flocks in gardens and along forest edges. In Tanzania, they are found alongside other mousebirds including the white-headed mousebird and the blue-naped mousebird. When they breed, other members of the group sometimes help the parents raise their chicks. The species is listed as Least Concern, and its global population is assessed as increasing. What do you call these birds in your local language?
At a nearby swamp, I was delighted to spot two Eurasian blackcaps (Sylvia atricapilla) enjoying a bath. I recognised the male by his grey plumage and distinctive black cap while the female wore a reddish-brown cap. The species breeds across much of Europe and in parts of western Asia and north-western Africa, with some populations migrating to tropical Africa for the northern winter.
A few moments watching those two birds bathe reminded me why I love spending time in wetlands.
Raphael Mbunda. Leganga Lodge, Usa River. Birding is his hobby. +255 756 606 070.
