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Paula Kahumbu. c/o Wakuluzu, Friends of the Colobus 
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WHAT’S HAPPENING TO THE BLUE 
SWALLOW HI RUN DO ATROCAERULEA SITES 
IN BUSIA AND SUBA DISTRICTS, KENYA? 
Introduction 
Forests, wetlands and moist grassland are among the 
most threatened liabitats in Kenya today (Fanshawe & 
Bennun, 1991) Grassland in the wetter central and 
western parts of the country is rapidly giving way to 
cultivation or intensive livestock farming. This habitat 
is important for at least five globally threatened or near- 
threatened species of birds in Kenya (Collar et nl. . 1994). 
and many more that arc regionally threatened (Bennun 
& Ngoroge. 1996). Among the globally threatened birds 
relying on moist grassland is the Blue Swallow tlirunJa 
atrocaerulea, one of 1 8 species of himndines occurring 
in Kenya. 
This species is a slim-looking swallow with an almost 
wholly glossy blue body and extremely long tail streamers 
in males (Turner & Rose. 1 989, Zimmerman et al 1996). 
It lias a small amount of white on the flanks and primary 
shafts, though this is difficult to see in the field 
An intra-African migrant, the Blue Swallow' breeds in 
upland grasslands along streams, using potholes and 
old aardvark burrows (and. at least in Tanzania, buildings: 
Britton. 1 980). Nesting sites are known from South Africa 
(Natal and eastern Transvaal), Swaziland, the eastern 
highlands of Zimbabwe, the Nyika Plateau of Malawi 
and (barely) Zambia, and the highlands of Mozambique 
and south-western Tanzania (Collar et al., 1 994). In the 
non-breeding season the birds move north to open 
grassland in eastern Zaire, Uganda and western Kenya. 
In Kenya it is a scarce bird, recorded from April to 
September in open grasslands in Bungoma. Mumias and 
Busia Districts, and in Ruma National Park (Lewis & 
Pomeroy. 1989. Zimmerman era/. 1996). It prefers small 
pockets of open grassy fields, often with bushes and 
trees. 
Blue swallows occur solitarily, in pairs or small family 
parties. They are not very gregarious but groups of up 
to 40 occur (Dyer. 1 988). However, up to 100 birds have 
been recorded roosting at a flooded grassland near 
Mungatsi in Nambale. Busia Distract (D A. Turner, pers. 
comm ). Blue Swallows swoop over grasslands and up 
and down gullies and valleys, close to the ground, 
feeding on aenal insects (Keith et al., 1992). They can 
move over great distances in search of suitable foraging 
sites 
A major decline lias occurred in the numbers of this 
species. Many parts of its breeding range have 
undergone profound changes, with grassland giving 
way to cultivation, human settlement and forest 
plantations. Where grassland habitat is left, it often 
suffers from ’excessive burning and overgrazing. The 
pockets of grassland that these swallows prefer for 
wintering are also fast disappearing in East Africa. This 
species is uncommon everywhere in its range and is 
listed as globally and regionally Vulnerable (Collar etal. 
1994, Bennun & Njoroge, 1 996). 
The status of the wintering grounds of this species in 
Kenya has not been documented. For this reason, we 
carried out a three-day survey- on the status of the Blue 
Swallow s roosting and feeding sites in areas around 
Busia as part of the Important Bird Areas programme for 
Kenya 
Methods 
We conducted our survey from 14 July to 16 July 1996. 
We first visited the site near Mungatsi, where 100 Blue 
Swallows have been know n to roost (D A Turner, pers. 
comm ) Here we made obscrvsations on the extent of 
the grassland, the land use patterns, presence of 
livestock and human activities in the area. We also looked 
for any Blue Swallows. Using the roads passing through 
Bumala-Matayo-Mundika-Nambale-Mungatsi-Munami- 
Lugulu-Butula and back to Bumala, and Luguhj-Nambale, 
as our transect, we searched for other areas of flooded 
grasslands — the Blue Swallow’s presumed favoured 
habitat At every suitable site that we encountered we 
made a list of bird species using the site and again 
estimated the extent of the grassland and also recorded 
land-use patterns and human activities. We collected 
data only in sites with at least 0. 5 ha of flooded grassland. 
On 15 July from 16:00hto 19:00hand 16 July from 6:00 h 
to 1 1 :00 h, we watched for and recorded any swallows 
that were over- flying the Mungatsi site. 
