Bulletin of the EANHS 28(1) 
ise a few events, and get to know other local members. 
The most popular Society events are usually field trips, 
especially bird-watching and plant study outings. And 
Kenya has rich biodiversity within easy reach. 
For example. Kisumu area members could meet for 
a birdwalk at impala Point. Nakuru area members could 
look for birds, flowers or butterflies at Hyrax HOI (your 
EANHS membership card provides free admission to 
regional museums and sites). All regions of Kenya, without 
exception, have interesting areas to visit. 
What is required is for one volunteer to do the 
following: 
1. Set a place, date and time to meet. It's good to 
start with an easy-to-reach site or meeting place. 
2. Inform the Society’s office of the place, date and 
time during the first week of die previous month 
(or earlier if possible). We will print the 
information in the Newsletter. That is, if you are 
planning a birdwalk in Eldoret in October, inform 
the office during the first week of September. 
The Newsletter is usually produced during the 
second week of the month, and mailed out to 
members in the third week. 
3. Actually show up at the place, date and time! If 
you can’t make it, find someone to take your place. 
The members who meet on these first informal outings 
can then decide if they want to continue, or to plan more 
elaborate events: lectures and film shows, ail-day or 
weekend trips, public awareness activities, etc. If the 
outings are held regularly—on the same date each week 
or each month—members from other pans of Kenya and 
overseas can plan to attend when they travel to your area. 
Please do not feel that you have to be an “expert” to 
schedule an outing. The members who take part will 
share their expertise and have fun learning together. All 
you have to do is to be able to plan ahead, so the meeting 
time and place can be published in the Newsletter, 
Come to think of it, we could use some help with 
outings in Nairobi, too. We are waiting to hear from 
YOU 
Fleur Ng’weno, Act. Honorary Secretary 
ARTICLES 
CENSUS OF ROOSTING INDIAN HOUSE 
CROWS CORVUS SPLENDENS ON MOMBASA 
ISLAND. 
INTRODUCTION 
The Indian House Crow (Corvus splendens) is an Asiatic 
bird species, which was introduced to the coast of East 
Africa in the 1890s (Lewis & Pomeroy, 1989; Ryall, 1992). 
From Zanzibar, where colonial authorities introduced 
the species to act as an urban scavenger, the species has 
spread into coastal areas of Tanzania, Kenya. Somalia. 
Ethiopia, and Mozambique and South Africa. After being 
recorded for the first time in Kenya in 1947 in Mombasa, 
this omnivorous scavenger is now very common in and 
around Mombasa city and island, and has spread along 
the north and south coast (Ryall & Reid, 1987; Ryall, 
1992), The species also expanded its distribution about 
50 km inland, largely following the main Mombasa- 
Nairobi road and rail links (Lewis & Pomeroy, 1989; 
Ryall, 1992). Their further spread seems to be halted by 
the barrier of the arid and sparsely populated area of 
the Tfcavo region (Ryall, 1992). 
The Indian House Crow has caused declines in 
populations of many indigenous bird species in the 
Mombasa area (Lewis & Pomeroy, 1989; Ryall, 1992), 
causes considerable economic damage to crops, poultry 
and fish farms (Yousuf, 1982; Dhindsa etal., 1991; Ryall, 
1992, P. Burton, pers. comm.) and is a potential carrier 
and transmitter of diseases (Mtinguti. 1984; Anonymous, 
1995). Attempts to control this pest species in and around 
Mombasa have been on-going since 1984 (Ryall, 1992; 
Ryall & Reid, 1987). Control efforts have focussed on 
the use of traps, poisoned bait, shooting of adult birds 
and destroying of nests, eggs and chicks (Ryall, 1992). 
However, without basic data on the distribution and 
numbers of the crows, the success of control programmes 
cannot be monitored. At present, no reliable data are 
The EANHS wishes to thank the following for their support in 1998: 
Sponsors of the Society; 
Arturo Foresti 
John Fox 
Mary K. Minot 
Norman Searle 
Pat Colbert 
Benny Bytebier 
Lucile Ford 
Jayant Ruparel 
Radha Ruparel 
Seeta Ruparel 
Narinder Heyer 
Brooks Childress 
Edward Vandeii Berghe 
J.H.E. Leakey 
C. Kathurima 
Corporate members: 
Elsa Conservation Trust 
Monsanto 
U.T.C 
Major Donors: 
Royal Society for the Protection 
of Birds (RSPB) 
