Register      Login
Emu Emu Society
Journal of BirdLife Australia
Shopping Cart: ( empty )
You are here: Home > Journals > MU > MU04037
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 106(4)

The Black-cheeked Lovebird (Agapornis nigrigenis) as an agricultural pest in Zambia

L. S. Warburton A and M. R. Perrin A B
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Research Centre for African Parrot Conservation, School of Biological and Conservation Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Private Bag X01, Scottsville, Pietermaritzburg, 3209, South Africa.

B Corresponding author. Email: Perrin@ukzn.ac.za

Emu 106(4) 321-328 https://doi.org/10.1071/MU04037
Submitted: 20 July 2004  Accepted: 21 July 2006   Published: 16 November 2006

Abstract

This study investigated the status of the Black-cheeked Lovebird (Agapornis nigrigenis) as a pest of agricultural crops by quantifying flock-size, the crops on which they foraged and the level of damage to the crops. Lovebirds fed on two agricultural crops, Millet (Eleusine coracana) and Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor), in village areas of Zambia that practice subsistence agriculture. Lovebirds preferred feeding on ripening crops, in early morning and late afternoon. Feeding bouts were longer and flock-size larger when Lovebirds fed on Sorghum rather than Millet. Analysis of transect data showed <30% of the total Millet crop was damaged, with 18% of seed-heads suffering >20% damage. Local farmers perceived the Lovebirds as a serious agricultural pest and attempted to protect their crops in a variety of ways but these were largely ineffective and rarely lethal to the Lovebirds. As the long-term survival and conservation of the endangered Black-cheeked Lovebird is closely allied with local people, particularly in relation to water sources during the dry season, the importance of elevating local tolerance to the species through education programs is highlighted.


Acknowledgments

The project was predominantly sponsored by a grant from the Loro Parque Fundacion. Other funding was contributed by: the National Research Foundation (South Africa), World Conservation Society, Society for the Study of Populations (ZSCP, Germany), World Parrot Trust, Zambezi Society (UK), International Federation for Animal Welfare, British Ornithologist’s Union, Lovebird (1990) Society, Parrot Society, San Diego Zoological Society, and the Conservation in Aviculture Society. British Airways Assisting Conservation and Station Africa also contributed. We are greatly indebted to volunteer field assistants, Alex Mwenda, Aaron Muchindu and the headman and villagers of the region and the Zambian Wildlife Authority. Mike Bingham, Lusaka, assisted with plant identification and Lynn Fish from the National Botanical Institute, Pretoria, identified grass seeds. We thank most sincerely the anonymous referees who contributed their time and minds to improving the quality of this paper.


References

Adams J. S., and McShane T. O. (1996). ‘The Myth of Wild Africa: Conservation Without Illusion.’ (University of California Press: San Francisco, CA.)

Allaby M. (1994). ‘The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Ecology.’ (Oxford University Press: Oxford, UK.)

Archer G., and Godman E. M. (1961). ‘The Birds of British Somaliland and the Gulf of Aden. Vol. 3.’ (Oliver and Boyd: Edinburgh.)

Birdlife International (2000). ‘Threatened Birds of the World.’ (CD-ROM) (Birdlife International: Cambridge, UK.)

Blancou, L. (1939). Contribution à l’etude des oiseaux de L‘Oubangui-Chari Occidentale. Oiseaux Revue für Ornithologie 9, 55–88.
Bucher E. H. (1992). Neotropical parrots as agricultural pests. In ‘New World Parrots in Crisis, Solutions from Conservation Biology’. (Eds S. R. Beissinger and N. F. R. Snyder.) pp. 201–219. (Smithsonian Institution Press: Washington, DC.)

Chapin, J. P. (1939). The birds of the Belgian Congo Part II. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 75, 1–632.
Collar N. J. (1997). Family Psittacidae (Parrots). In ‘Handbook of the Birds of the World. Vol. 4. Sandgrouse to Cuckoos’. (Eds J. del Hoyo, A. Elliot and J. Sargatal.) pp. 280-477. (Lynx Edicions: Barcelona.)

Dilger, W. C. (1960). The comparative ethology of the African genus Agapornis. Zietschrift für Tierpsychologie 17, 649–685.
Dodman T. (1995). Status and distribution of the Black-cheeked Lovebird Agapornis nigrigenis. Unpublished report to Royal Society for the Protection of Birds: Sandy, Bedfordshire, UK.

Dodman, T. , Katanekwa, V. , Aspinall, D. , and Stjernstedt, R. (2000). Status and distribution of the Black-cheeked Lovebird Agapornis nigrigenis in Zambia. Ostrich 71, 228–234.
Dyer M. I., and Ward P. (1977). Management of pest situations. In ‘Granivorous Birds in Ecosystems’. (Eds J. Pinowsky and S. C. Kendeigh.) pp. 267–300. (Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, UK.)

Eckert, J. (1990). Orange-bellied Parrots feeding on a cultivated crop. South Australian Ornithologist 31, 16–17.
Ekstrom J., and Evans M. (2004). Black-cheeked Lovebird. In ‘Threatened Birds of the World 2004’. (CD-ROM) (Birdlife International: Cambridge, UK.)

Fishpool L. C., and Evans M. I. (Eds) (2001). ‘Important Bird Areas in Africa and Associated Islands. Priority Sites for Conservation.’ Birdlife Conservation Series No. 11. (Pisces Publications and Birdlife International: Newbury and Cambridge, UK.)

Forshaw J. M. (1989). ‘Parrots of the World.’ 3rd edn. (David and Charles, Newton Abbot: London.)

Friedmann, H. , and Loveridge, A. (1937). Notes on the ornithology of tropical East Africa. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology 81, 1–413.
Fry C. H., Stuart K., and Urban E. K. (1988). ‘The Birds of Africa. Vol. 3.’ (Academic Press: London.)

Galetti, M. (1993). Diet of the Scaly-headed Parrot (Pionus maximiliani) in a semi-deciduous forest in Southeastern Brazil. Biotropica 25, 419–424.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | Halse S. A. (1986). Parrot damage in apple orchards in south-western Australia: a review. Technical Rreport No. 8, Department of Conservation and Land Management (WA), Perth.

Juniper M., and Parr M. (1998). ‘Parrots: A Guide to Parrots of the World.’ (Pica Press: Sussex, UK.)

Long, J. L. (1985). Damage to cultivated fruit by parrots in the south of Western Australia. Australian Wildlife Research 12, 75–80.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | Low A. B., and Rebelo A. G. (1996). ‘Vegetation of South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland.’ (Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism: Pretoria.)

Maclean G. L. (1988). ‘Robert’s Birds of Southern Africa.’ 5th edn. (The John Voelcker Bird Book Fund: Cape Town, South Africa.).

Mackworth-Praed C. W., and Grant C. H. B. (1952). ‘Birds of the Southern Third of Africa.’ African Handbook of Birds. Series 2(1). (Longmans, Green and Co: London).

Moreau, R. E. (1948). Aspects of the evolution in the parrot genus Agapornis. Ibis 90, 449–460.
Moyer D. C. (1995). ‘The Status of Fischer’s Lovebird Agapornis fischeri in the United Republic of Tanzania.’ (IUCN Species Survival Commission: Gland, Switzerland.)

Naughton-Treves, L. (1998). Predicting patterns of crop damage by wildlife around Kibale National Park, Uganda. Conservation Biology 12, 156–168.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | NPWS/JICA (National Parks and Wildlife Service/Japan International Cooperation Agency) (1999). Kafue National Park General Management Plan. Zambian National Parks and Wildlife Service departmental report, Lusaka, Zambia.

Renton, K. (2001). Lilac-crowned Parrot diet with food resource availability: resource tracking by a parrot seed predator. Condor 103, 62–69.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | Thompson J. J. (1987). The introduction of lovebirds (Agapornis) to Lake Naivasha, Kenya, and their effect on the Lake’s agriculture and indigenous avifauna. M.Sc. Thesis, University of Nairobi, Kenya.

Warburton, L. S. (1999). Black-cheeked Lovebirds in the wild. PsittaScene 11, 8–10.
Warburton L. S. (2003). The ecology and conservation biology of the Black-cheeked Lovebird Agapornis nigrigenis in Zambia. Ph.D. Thesis, University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, Republic of South Africa.

White F. (1983). ‘The Vegetation of Africa. A Descriptive Memoir to Accompany the UNESCO/AETFAT/UNSO Vegetation Maps of Africa 1 : 50 000.’ (UNESCO: Paris.)

Wiens J. A., and Johnston R. F. (1977). Adaptive correlates of granivory in birds. In ‘Granivorous Birds in Ecosystems’. (Eds J. Pinowsky and S. C. Kendeigh.) pp. 301–340. (Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, UK.)