The “Quelea Invasion” refers to the devastating agricultural raids by the Red-billed Quelea (Quelea quelea), a small African weaver bird widely dubbed the “feathered locust” due to its ability to decimate cereal crops in swarm-like numbers.
With an adult breeding population of at least 1.5 to 1.8 billion birds, it is recognized as the most numerous wild bird species on Earth. When these birds migrate in search of food, they form nomadic super-colonies numbering in the millions, triggering a recurring crisis for food security across sub-Saharan Africa. The Scale of Destruction
Massive Consumption: A single quelea bird eats about 4 to 10 grams of grain daily.
Flock Damage: A moderate flock of two million birds can strip up to 20 tons of grain in just one day.
Targeted Crops: They aggressively raid small-grain cereal crops like rice, wheat, sorghum, millet, teff, and barley.
Behavioral Shifts: Driven by climate change and shifting cropping patterns, they have recently been observed attacking larger grains like maize.
Economic Losses: The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that quelea invasions cause around $88.6 million USD in crop damage annually across Africa. Notable Regional Invasions
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