Hi All
At the ILRI compound (off the Old Naivasha Road in Kabete) Bronze remains common. Variable may have increased this year. Green headed used to be regular but
not seen for several years. Scarlet-chested also used to be regular but seems to have decreased this year (no sightings). Amethyst always scarce and Northern double-collared only three records (habitat is marginal since no forest).
Good birding.
Richard
Dr. Richard Bishop
Senior Molecular Biologist
International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI)
P.O. Box 30709
GPO 00100
Nairobi
Kenya
Tel: +254(0)20 4223000 (switchboard) 4223359 (office)
e mail: r.bishop@cgiar.org
mobile: 0710 831 851
From: kenyabirdsnet@yahoogroups.com [mailto:kenyabirdsnet@yahoogroups.com]
On Behalf Of ruabora@yahoo.co.uk
Sent: Sunday, September 15, 2013 7:11 PM
To: kenyabirdsnet@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [KENYABIRDSNET] Sunbirds
Dear All
Over the past 10 years we have noticed a real decline in numbers of certain sunbird species in our garden in Karen. At our feeder 10 years ago we would have had a constant stream of visitors with amethyst, collared and variable being the
most numerous, and scarlet chested, bronze, green headed, and northern double collared less numerous, but always present. Now (despite a local boom of nesting variables in our garden) we only have a few amethyst and very rarely a bronze or scarlet chested
and I haven't seen the green headed for a year or so.
We changed to using glucose instead of sugar a few years ago but this didn't seem to have an obvious effect on the number of visitors. Our garden and surrounding gardens have remained the same so the habitat shouldn't have had an impact...
Has anyone else noticed this or is it just a local, natural, fluctuation in population numbers?
Kieran