By Haruna M. Abubakar, Abubakar S. Ringim
Abdim’s stork (Ciconia abdimii) is a species of bird in the family Ciconiidae. The name of the bird is in honour of the Sudan Turkish Governor, Bey El-Arnaut Abidim. Abdim’s stork is readily recognized by its black patterns and white underparts, grey legs and bill, red knees, and feet. The bird has red facial skin in front of the eye and blue skin near the bill in the breeding season. It is the smallest of the 19 stork species. The bird is an intra-African migrant that makes seasonal movements in response to rain. Abdim’s stork breeds during the wet season between May and August (in northern tropics) and moves east then south (West African populations), or south in the case of East African populations. It is a gregarious bird that is rarely seen in groups of less than 10 birds, often traveling in vast flocks of up 10,000 birds. This fact makes it to be one of the most popular stork species in continental Africa.
In most African cultures and traditions, the species is respected and protected, serving as a harbinger of rain. It is a bird beloved by all and considered a good omen and of good luck, because its arrival forewarning for the farmers in the preparation of the fields. Being moreover a very common bird and not at all disturbed by the human presence, it is often seen grazing in the cultivated fields looking for insects. In Nigeria, upon arrival in the breeding ground, Abdim’s storks begin putting their nest in good shape or building a new one in the case of new parents. The bird loves to move gently from one field to another to harvest the fruit left over from the previous planting season. Occasionally, the bird moves to vegetal feeding, eating wild berries, and legumes and integrating them with mollusks, frogs, lizards, and small mammals.
For a very long time, the bird has nested and bred successfully in and around people’s houses with generations of birds returning to the same nesting place every year, if left undisturbed. For example, there is a nest of the bird we saw in Bauchi that the bird generation has been using for more than half a century, and similar observations were done in Maimalari. Interestingly, even though the bird sometimes released a lot of dung in and around people’s houses during the breeding season, people still tolerate it because of the long ethnoornithological understanding. In the 80s, a popular Hausa singer – Haruna Uji dedicated a song to this magnificent bird that
“…anyone that leaves Abdim’s stork leaves meat, and anyone that killed it betrays it. Abdim’s stork is a messenger, a messenger of God that only comes during the seventh month of the calendar (July) when farming begins, if you doubt double-check…”
On Tuesday 17, June 2022, we received information from farmers in Potiskum, Yobe State that there are carcasses of Abdim’s stork in several places in the field. We immediately mobilized resources and visited a few places. In Potiskum, we counted 15 corpses, and in Damagun, we found 10 carcasses, including fresh ones. On our way to Gashaka in the Fika local government area, we stumbled across the mummified body. In total, we found 45 carcasses. We also received reports from Nangere and Jakusko areas, and as far as Borno, Bauchi, and Gombe States, that there are carcasses of Abdim’s stork, however, we could not visit.
Carcasses of Abdim’s Storks in Damagum shots on 17/7/2022
As per as we are aware, we have not seen, or heard of mass mortality of Abdim’s stork in this region for several years or decades. Although we could not establish the scale and magnitude of the death, it is likely large in scale and occur (perhaps the poisoning) along the migratory route, that is, in other parts of Africa where Abdim’s stork migrate. Research has it that the bird is threatened by the control of locusts through direct and indirect poisoning. In Sudan, for instance, mass mortalities were reported due to the extensive use of pesticides. Across its entire range, the bird is facing habitat degradation, through urbanisation and increasing agriculture, overgrazing, and bush encroachment, and hunted and traded in Nigeria for traditional uses. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) categorized Abdim’s stork as a species experiencing no threats in the wild (Least Concern) because the population is considered stable. Awareness raising about the importance of Abdim’s stork in the ecosystem would preserve both the species, cultural values, and the ethnoornithological significance of the bird in Africa. Sustainable agricultural practices that involve the use of less pesticides and herbicides could reduce the chance of harmful chemicals in the environment, since Abdim’s stork primarily feed on insects.
Haruna M. Abubakar
haroondumbulwa@gmail.com