In 1964, someone decided it was a good idea to release a handful of estrildas in Portugal. Before the end of the decade, this small opportunistic bird from sub-Saharan Africa had already settled in Extremadura and Andalusia. By the 80s, it had already reached the east of the peninsula.
For 60 years, estrildas had remained in a discreet background. It had taken root, but they weren’t getting traction. However, that has begun to change: in the last 15 years, Valencian estrilds have multiplied by 10 and in Catalonia the population has tripled.
AND, to the surprise of the expertsthe key to the boom has been two other invasive species.
What has happened? In recent days, several media have begun to publish reports announcing that the African bird “has already arrived” in Spain. However, the common estrilda has been here for decades. What is new is not that: what is new is that in recent years the proliferation of uncultivated plots (one in five are) is becoming the perfect breeding ground for two other exotic species, the common reed and the Pampa duster.
And those species make the perfect habitat for estrildas.
Do they eat them? No no. That’s why I say it’s curious: the researchers they have realized that it is not that birds consume these plants. The plants provide shelter, roosting sites and perfect structures for this species. The strilas have been surviving for years in a very hostile territory, now they have found some areas that suit them like a glove.
The story, as you can see, is more complex. Above all, because it has an agricultural substrate. Without the profound changes of recent years in the countryside, neither the Pampa duster nor the common sugarcane would have reached where they have.
In this sense, what is truly worrying is not the estrilda (a bird that, as far as we know, is not affecting the local fauna either). What has experts worried is the chain of invasions.
You just have to think about it a little to understand: the feather duster is South American, the common reed is Asian, and the estrilda is African. Together, they have managed to become strong in southern Europe. Fauna and flora have logics that we are still unable to understand in depth.
In the end, the key is always in the same place: that there is a moment when we are going to have to assume that the only way to get out of all the problems we are creating is to start comprehensively managing the field.
Image | XRTF
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