Monitoring birds during tsetse eradication

The June issue of Birdlife Botswana’s Bird Conservation Newsletter has an article about the organization’s involvement in monitoring of the effects of aerial spraying of the synthetic pyrethroid, Deltamethrin, against tsetse fly on the bird populations in the Kwando/Linyanti area in northern Botswana and northeastern Namibia. Birdlife is focusing on four types of birds whose habitat and feeding behaviour suggest they might be vulnerable to the spray: the Slaty Eget, the Lappet Faced Vulture, the Little Bee Eater, and Arnot’s Chat. The full story can be found online on Birdlife Botswana’s web site. HOORC is coordinating overall monitoring of the effects of the 2006 spraying programme.