Kenyatta Avenue: Pedestrians worry over marabou stork soiling their clothes

The giant birds love to sit on top of a tree adjacent to the historic memorial pillar, a vertical concrete mass of ‘rock’ planted onto the ground in honour of Kenyan soldiers who died in the two world wars.

The good birds have been defecating on anything and anyone who happens to pass through their ‘home’ – along Kenyatta Avenue.

Pedestrians harrying to work – or just going about their business in the Central Business District (CBD) – have occasionally had to contend with the indignity of having to carry birds’ poop on the back of their suits, trousers, skirts [even miniskirts], and if you are unlucky, on your face.

It is not uncommon to see pedestrians carefully avoiding the base of the tree when walking on the beautiful pavement.

“I have had my shirt soiled a few times, and although it is harmless, it’s a nuisance especially when the birds defecate on your clothes,” Victor Kassam who works in the CBD told Wananchi Reporting.

Adding: “That is why most people avoid walking closer to the tree. They would rather walk in the sun.”

Motorists, cyclists and bodaboda riders have not been spared the treatment.

“A marabou stork bird once defecated on my helmet, obscuring my view while on Kenyatta Avenue. I was carrying a client, and so I had to stop somewhere, and wipe it out with a piece of cloth,” Sam Karis, a bodaboda rider told Wananchi Reporting.

“I think it is time we have wipers introduced on these helmets, just like in vehicles, to help clear such," says Karis, albeit jokingly.

The thick mass of white, hugging parts of the pavement, as well as a section of the road and the base of the tree, shows just how busy the birds have been.

The marabou stork birds are very friendly, and have often been pictured peacefully sharing the adjacent walkway with pedestrians.

Some of those who spoke to Wananchi Reporting said that the birds are harmless, beautiful and add to the beauty of the city.

Others, however, find them a nuisance; causing traffic, minor accidents and painting the beautiful capital white with their poop.