[kwee-lee-uh] 
| any of several African weaverbirds of the genus Quelea, esp. Q. quelea (red-billed quelea), noted for its vast flocks that destroy grain crops. |
| que·le·a (kwē'lē-ə) n. An African weaverbird of the genus Quelea, especially Q. quelea, a small red-billed bird that is extremely destructive to grain crops. [New Latin Quelea, genus name, perhaps alteration of Medieval Latin qualea, quail, ultimately from Vulgar Latin *coacula, of imitative origin.] |
quelea
(species Quelea quelea), small brownish bird of Africa, belonging to the songbird family Ploceidae (order Passeriformes). It occurs in such enormous numbers that it often destroys grain crops and, by roosting, breaks branches. Efforts to control quelea populations with poisons, napalm, pathogens, and electronic devices have had poor success; but dynamiting the dense colonies, which may contain more than two million pairs in less than 50 hectares (125 acres), has achieved local control
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