Red Billed Quellia Migration  

For those of you who have witnessed this spectacle, it can be related to the sardine run or migration on the South Coast of South Africa.

These birds start appearing at Nitani during October, enroute to their breeding grounds just north of us into Zimbabwe. What is so incredible to watch is the volume of birds, which are flying in such close proximity to each other and yet never colliding.

During a recent archeological talk just behind Papate camp, we were given a display of quellia that will be remembered forever, by those who witnessed it. One flock of birds flew past us in a continuous snake of perfect formation for 21 minutes. The approximate number of birds in this one flock we estimated to be around 126,000 individuals. This was based on 100 birds per second for 21 minutes.

The sound that the quellia make when they are swirling around water to drink is almost deafening. The video clip and photographs will give you some idea of what this extraordinary event of nature looks like.