About Us - Ornithology Consulting & Research

WELCOME TO ORNITHOLOGY CONSULTANCY SERVICES LTD

Ornithology Consultancy Services Limited (OCSL) is an initiative aimed at offering quality services in field research to scientists. There is a big pool of young people who have the basic skills and are able to contribute to field research but have no openings to practice. We are a solution to this wastage of talent as our outfit will be absorbing these volunteers and training others in collaboration with institutions which already are doing the same such as Ornithology Department of National Museums of Kenya (NMK), Nature Kenya and Arocha Kenya which unfortunately cannot offer them all employment.

Of importance to us is not to make data collection a drab, fun-less activity where the researcher just issues instructions. What we need to have is an exchange of ideas and empowering of the technician to be more knowledgeable while at the same time the researcher gets quality data for his/her efforts. Kenya is a country with diverse natural wonders. We have about 1,078 bird species distributed allover the country in different habitats. We have 62 Important Bird Areas (IBAs) hosting unique bird species needing protection from habitat lose or other forms of persecutions.

Considering this, there is need for provision of quality technicians for researchers so as we can safeguard the future of these feathered friends. Shoddy work not only leads to misplaced conceptions on the needs for conservation but also escalates the levels of vulnerability for these species. Choosing (OCSL) makes it a win-win situation for both the researcher and nature. Welcome and take a walk with us in this noble course of safeguarding this “ringer’s paradise” of ours.

1. OUR STRENGTHS ARE:

EXPERIENCE:
Bernard Amakobe joined the Ornithology department of NMK in 1998 as an intern and is now an experienced research technician but not under its employment but an active field person due to the invaluable skills he has honed. Throughout his ten-year career, he has traversed nearly all corners of Kenya on field expeditions. He has also worked as a team leader on a social behavior/interaction project on the Grey-Capped Social weaver (Pseudonigrita arnaudi) at Mpala Research Center, Laikipia, Kenya for the past 5 years gaining immense, invaluable and intense training in both behavior study tactics and use of various high-tech passive recording and digital video recording equipment. Before that he had worked in the same capacity for 4 years in the Taita hills on two endemic bird species, the Taita Thrush Turdus (olivaceus) heleri and the White-Starred Robin Pogonocichla stellata helleri.

QUALIFICATIONS:
Bernard has received intensive short term training in both capture methods and sample collection and storage of both tissues and blood both for passerines, raptors and water birds. The latest being when he represented Kenya on a one week intense course on collecting and storage of both cloacae and pharyngeal samples from ducks and Geese in relation to the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza. The course was conducted in WWT head quarters in Slimbridge, Bristol UK. But most importantly, he has worked intensely in various habitats collecting data with no or minimal supervision here in Kenya. By choosing our outfit, you will not only be adding onto our knowledge but also getting assurance that you are having quality and reliable data.

ASPIRATIONS:
Outside entrepreneurship, we are aware of the high rate of unemployment and thus we want to fill the gap by being able to employ the many aspiring young researchers who have minimal chances of employment due to their limited knowledge and experience. Thus, choosing to hire us is bettering science while at the same time helping employ or train people who are ready to collect data while advancing their careers.

CAPABILITIES:
Many researchers have problems due to the lack of knowledge and or capability of a technician to grasp a concept of what a researcher needs done. Our technicians are astute self-motivated researchers with excellent organizational abilities. Field is stressful but we have good interpersonal skills to soothe the rough edges of finding that what was possible in your project design is actually a pipe dream.

CHALLENGES:
Everyone has something, which he/she is gifted at. But the problem is the dissemination and sharing of ideas. Our challenge usually is how to share what we know. This is simpler if you come with an open mind that though you are the principal investigator, you can gain immensely by listening to the locals and your assistants. Researchers who are not rigid and feel they are capable of sharing the glory with those who helped in the data at various levels apart from only data collection are a welcome addition.

2. THE SERVICES WE OFFER

In general our services can be of use to all researchers working on mammals, plants  and reptiles. But in particular, our core services are in Ornithology and the services are:

3. TECHNICIANS PROFILE

Amakobe  a.k.a. Scopus.
Bernard Amakobe is a volunteer at the Ornithology Section, Zoology Department of the National Museums of Kenya in Nairobi. He joined Nairobi Ringing group (NbiRG)-[a project of the department] as a trainee in bird ringing/banding in 1997. At the same time he also joined Nature Kenya, the premier nature organization in Kenya and is now a regular participant in their programs like bird watching and world bird watch. He is also a member of Arocha Kenya, a bird observatory set at the scenic Kenyan coast.

Bernard is also the trainer, treasurer, mobilizer and schedules officer of the Nairobi Ringing group. Currently, he holds the distinction of being the team leader (5 years in a row) of an intense social behavioral ecology study project on the Grey-Capped Social Weaver. He enthuses “We usually have an intense four months of data collection which I then proceed to analyze in off-season”. The project’s PI is none other than the eminent professor of Behavioral Economy Prof. Steve Emlen of Cornell University, U.S.A. Amakobe further adds, “ I feel so humbled to imbibe from Steve” as he fondly calls the Behavioral Ecology guru.

He has been working closely with researchers as a field technician for the past 10 years collecting data. He specializes in bird ringing, behavioral ecology studies, construction and setting up bird traps and implementing researcher’s ideas into actual Fieldwork, and organizing and coordinating field protocol. Through this, he has developed good skills required for a conducive research environment and has been the team leader on various projects for the past 9 years. Bernard has also received training in ringing of waders, passerines and the collection of samples from passerines, ducks, geese and waders both locally and in Portugal and the UK.

He has been [and still is] fundamental in the training of trainees in bird ringing/banding and other field techniques and other data collection tactics as vegetation sampling and creation of transects and monitoring of such. Through the training at the department, he is a competent collection management assistant and also a taxidermist. He is a core team member on the team taxed with collecting samples both cloacae, tracheal and pharyngeal from waders, ducks and Geese for projects dealing with the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI). He was privileged to join a training workshop in Slim Bridge UK in 2007,which was sponsored by WWT, and the UN through FAO. The training was on enhancing both safety of field collectors and having quality samples which are uncontaminated.

His passion is to give science a human face whereby there is a need to make the stakeholders aware that what they are conserving is in the good of all. “Birding and ringing is one of the powerful tools to pass this message and creating community awareness of their ecological importance makes research even more fun” adds Bernard.

One of his contributions to the understanding of bird migration [which fascinates him] is by participating on the Ngulia Ringing Scheme and on which he has attended regularly since 1997.This is at the world famous Ngulia Safari Lodge famous for its fabled leopards. Other participants include Dr. David Pearson and Mr. Graeme Buckhurst, both being the scheme founders and Mr. Colin Kibet Jackson all who are renowned authorities in Ornithology. These expeditions have enabled him to hone his ringing skills and understanding bird movements more clearly.

Many people he has worked for will definitely speak for him. But his simple and humble promise is: you will remain wondering if he was born with a ringing pliers and binoculars in hand. Do not feel shy after the experience to go back to your donors for more funding just so that you can work hand-in-hand with Scopus. Welcome to his world.

4. OUR PACKAGES

We have different types of research excursions, which could be grouped into three broad categories:

1. Expedition or short-term projects. These falls in the 1-day – 2 months field period.
2. Short-term Projects: these last for between a minimum of 6 months to 1 year.
3. Long term projects whose category is more than one year, and above.

A point to note is that we have different types of categories for our field technicians and also the type of habitat we are to have an excursion on. You may not need a highly experienced technician depending on the nature of your research work. And our work could be in a non-hardship area meaning that field expenses and stipends will vary in lieu of experience and terrain.

We also have 2 categories of expenses. In relation to the technician you are taking, we can have a per diem form of payment or a whole-some payment where you pre-determine payments for the whole period.

As for equipment and camp management, we have arrangements where we can shoulder all day-to-day running and logistics and the other option where we concentrate on Fieldwork while you organize for logistics.

EXPEDITIONS:
SHORT-TERM:
LONG-TERM:
EXTRA SERVICES:

5. WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

RESEARCH PERMIT AND AFFILIATION CLEARANCE:
Application for a fresh Research Clearance from the Government of Kenya.

All persons wishing to conduct research in Kenya MUST apply for and receive a valid Research Permit from the Kenya Government before initiating research

6. TERMS and CONDITIONS

• We all know field work is a place full of many unknowns which need fore-plans. We can have emergencies especially medical or otherwise. Depending on the nature and duration of Fieldwork, we highly recommend for you to liaise with the technical team and see if we need medical cover or accident premiums. This we stress depends with the duration and nature of habitat being worked in and is to be considered and negotiated by both sides.
• We are service providers and thus are subject to terms and conditions of the regulatory institutions. There are provisions of which affiliate institutions and government agencies require us (read you) to follow and which we would humbly request you to abide by. More on these can be understood when you apply for both affiliation and research permits.
• Kenyas’ ringing activities are served by the Ringing Scheme of East Africa. We the ringers are allowed to practice but we are yet to have a well-defined ringers’ permit. Thus, etiquette provides for any new ringer/bander however qualified to adhere to our rules and regulations, one of which: you cannot come on your own with foreign rings and start processing birds. For recognition and courtesy, you are required to make arrangements to meet the scheme coordinator and sign a ringer’s declaration.
• The nature of some studies requires the carrying of samples out of the country. These, can only be approved by your affiliation institution and if none the Kenya Wildlife Services. And the samples should NOT derive from species listed on the CITES appendices.
• Departments request researchers who collect samples to be willing to donate replicas of the same to the relevant department. In our case samples of tissue and blood can be collected in pairs one for the researcher and the other for the department.

7. CONTACTS

Webpage: www.ornithologyconsultancyservices.com
Email: amakobe@orniconsult.com or scopumbre@yahoo.com.
Tel: +254-0721517910

8. LINKS

Birding Safaris Africa
P. O. Box 32246-00600 Nairobi, Kenya.
Webpage: www.birdingsafarisafrica.co.ke

Mwamba Bird Observatory and
Field Study Center, Arocha Kenya
P. O. Box 383 80202
Watamu Malindi, Kenya.

Ornithology Section,
Zoology Dept. National Museums of Kenya
P. O. Box 40658 00100 GPO
Nairobi, Kenya.

Nature Kenya, the EANHS
Museum Hill
P. O. Box 44486 00100 GPO
Nairobi, Kenya.