Nairobi’s ‘Birdman’: Rescuing raptors on the streets of Kenya’s capital

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Nairobi, Kenya – Shouts of “Birdman! Birdman!” way 27-year-old Rodgers Oloo Magutha down a thoroughfare successful the centre of Kenya’s capital, Nairobi.

Vendors intermission mid-sale, constabulary glimpse distant from traffic, and pedestrians abruptly halt to ticker the antheral crowned with raptors connected his caput and shoulders. Children burst into giggles oregon shrink backmost successful fearfulness arsenic crowds gather, phones raised similar paparazzi.

‘Bird enthusiast’

“I ne'er spell looking for the birds – they conscionable travel to me,” says Magutha, his beanie tilted nether the value of a kite perched connected his head, different clinging to his shoulder.

He sits connected a roadside successful Kayole, a low-income neighbourhood connected Nairobi’s edge, wherever helium precocious moved aft a adjuvant alien offered him shelter. Children ellipse him, brushing the kites’ wings earlier darting off, laughing.

Magutha’s communicative began successful Nakuru, a metropolis successful the Rift Valley known arsenic a birdwatcher’s paradise.

“I utilized to sneak into Lake Nakuru National Park and beryllium by the water, watching flamingos, pelicans and truthful galore different birds,” Magutha says. He would sometimes favored them, stock food, and felt they trusted him erstwhile they stayed calm astir him.

“That’s erstwhile I became a vertebrate enthusiast,” helium says. While different children hunted with slingshots, helium persuaded them to support birds instead. At home, helium raised pigeons, chickens, ducks and adjacent rescued a flamingo.

But astatine 13, his mother, who was raising him alone, died suddenly. Left without a unchangeable home, helium drifted betwixt relatives earlier ending up connected the streets. He survived successful Nakuru, Mombasa and Nairobi by asking passersby for assistance oregon selling integrative bottles and scrap metal.

In each city, helium says, thoroughfare residents gathered around, drawn to him overmuch similar the birds. Over time, they became his family, giving him a consciousness of belonging.

But it was successful Nairobi, adjacent Kenya’s National Archives gathering successful the cardinal concern district, a communal gathering spot for thoroughfare residents, that Magutha began to physique his world.

Life there, helium says, is defined by struggle. “Nobody comes to the streets due to the fact that they privation to,” Magutha says. “Most of them are traumatised; they’ve been abandoned oregon mistreated.”

Many of his thoroughfare household are orphans, others escaped hard families, and astir get weighed down by trauma oregon neglect. Sleeping unsmooth is peculiarly hard connected acold nights, and drugs are everywhere. “Everyone wants an escape. They conscionable sniff it to forget,” Magutha says astir those who inhale mafta ndege, a inexpensive petroleum-based solvent.

The assemblage besides faces pushback from police. “They ever pursuit america away. They bushed america due to the fact that they deliberation we disturb people,” helium adds.

Yet helium sees a quality successful his thoroughfare household that they often cannot spot successful themselves, and tries to usher the younger ones – teaching the children skills including speechmaking and penning – and urging them to ideate a amended future.

“They person to judge successful thing better, but erstwhile you’re connected the streets, it’s hard to ideate thing else.”

‘Governor’ of the birds

It was astir 4 years ago, portion trying to nurture anticipation wherever small seemed to grow, that Magutha says a motion appeared. Beneath a histrion connected Moi Avenue, helium and his thoroughfare household were sharing donated chips and chickenhearted erstwhile a wounded babe achromatic kite stumbled into their circle.

Frail and starving, with its parents obscurity successful sight, the vertebrate accepted pieces of their repast and climbed onto Magutha’s hand. The 2 rapidly formed a bond.

Months later, helium named the vertebrate Johnson, aft Nairobi’s governor, Johnson Sakaja. “Because I saw him arsenic the politician of the different birds,” helium laughs, arsenic pigeons helium has since rescued swoop down to remainder lightly connected his shoulders.

Meeting Johnson marked a turning constituent for Magutha, giving him intent and easing the slump that often pervades thoroughfare life. “Johnson became my hope,” helium says. Despite efforts to merchandise him backmost into the wild, the vertebrate ever resisted. “So I decided to support Johnson arsenic a companion due to the fact that we’ve been done a batch together,” helium says, arsenic the kite flutters onto his caput – its acquainted perch. “He’s a large portion of maine now.”

Before long, different injured, sick, oregon orphaned birds recovered their mode to Magutha. Over the years, helium has cared for 5 achromatic kites, crows, an owl, marabou storks and pigeons – nursing them backmost to wellness earlier releasing them. At Uhuru Park, helium teaches them to instrumentality their archetypal flights and hunt.

But Nairobi – erstwhile celebrated for its lush canopies – is steadily losing its municipality forests, and with them, the birds’ homes. Entire swaths of trees person been felled for roads and bureau blocks. Authorities framework it arsenic economical progress, but conservationists warn of rising temperatures, worsening aerial prime and heightened flood risks.

Each felled histrion means nests destroyed and chicks tumbling to the ground. “When the nests fall, the babies are conscionable near there,” Magutha explains. “Their mothers don’t travel backmost due to the fact that they deliberation possibly a predator attacked them.” So far, helium has rescued 4 kites from the wreckage of Nairobi’s disappearing treescape.

The rescued birds, which erstwhile besides included an owl balanced connected 1 of his shoulders and a broken-winged marabou stork that perpetually trailed him, person made Magutha a spectacle connected Nairobi’s streets, drafting a premix of curiosity and apprehension. Many halt to instrumentality photos oregon attack nervously to interaction the birds, with Magutha urging them to fto spell of their fear.

“I similar to spot radical smiling,” helium tells Al Jazeera with a wide grin. At Jamia Mosque – the metropolis centre’s main mosque – chap worshippers gave Magutha, who converted to Islam arsenic a child, the nickname Nabi ya Ndege, Swahili for the “bird prophet”.

“The birds made america little invisible to people,” Magutha says. “And that’s my dream: to marque our assemblage disposable and to amusement we’re conscionable arsenic quality arsenic anyone other – and not thing to beryllium feared.”

Going viral

While Magutha and his birds had agelong turned heads among passersby, the June 2024 protests brought a caller benignant of spotlight.

Kenya’s younker had been simmering with choler aft President William Ruto swept into powerfulness connected promises of jobs, little surviving costs and tiny concern loans, lone to scrap subsidies and rise taxes.

On June 18 – the time parliament was to statement a caller concern measure – months of online outrage spilled into the precise streets Magutha calls home. As constabulary units massed extracurricular and demonstrators began to gather, Magutha woke from his slumber wrong an abandoned gathering adjacent the National Archives.

Though unaware of the planned march, helium decided to join. “I’m an environmentalist and an advocator for thoroughfare families, truthful erstwhile I learned what was happening, I knew I had to instrumentality part. I privation a antiauthoritarian state and a amended aboriginal for our generation,” Magutha says.

When helium stepped into the streets with Johnson connected his caput and 2 different kites, Jaimie and Jannie, perched connected his shoulders, helium instantly drew a crowd. Protesters pulled retired phones for selfies, portion journalists jostled to interrogation Magutha.

This rapidly drew the attraction of the police. “When they saw radical crowding astir me, they assumed I was a leader,” helium recalls.

During the days-long demonstrations, which were met with a brutal constabulary crackdown, Magutha was beaten with woody clubs and shot successful the head with a rubber bullet, causing lasting imaginativeness problems. He thinks the serviceman aimed astatine Johnson, but the slug deed him erstwhile helium moved to support the bird.

In different incident, constabulary fired a teardrop state canister straight astatine his leg, knocking him to the ground. Footage shows his raptors clinging fiercely to him, refusing to budge adjacent arsenic rescuers effort to propulsion them aside.

Magutha’s representation from the protests exploded online. His viral fame, however, brought small opportunity.

“It’s similar I became visible, but remained invisible astatine the aforesaid time,” helium says with a disheartened shrug.

Despite the attention, the harsh realities of thoroughfare beingness remained. After the protests, Magutha’s days went backmost to scavenging for nutrient oregon coins, with nights spent curled successful a hessian container connected footpaths, successful parks, oregon abandoned buildings.

“When you’re connected the streets, you can’t beryllium recovered easily,” Magutha says. “It’s hard to support a telephone due to the fact that radical steal. So if idiosyncratic wants to springiness maine apparel oregon assistance me, they can’t find me.”

His notoriety besides bred hostility among his thoroughfare family. “When idiosyncratic trends successful Kenya, radical presume determination volition beryllium goodies,” helium explains. “But nary of that happened for me. As a thoroughfare person, I didn’t get the aforesaid benefits different idiosyncratic would. Deep down, I consciousness blameworthy – my thoroughfare household thinks I person money, but I’m not helping them.”

Dreaming big

Earlier this year, a well-wisher invited Magutha to enactment astatine his location successful Kayole, lending him a telephone and giving him entree to Wi-Fi truthful helium could commencement creating societal media contented – thing helium had agelong hoped to bash to animate others with his passionateness for birds and the environment.

He created Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok accounts, wherever helium shares videos of himself with his birds and documents his biology enactment – cleaning rubbish from the adjacent Ngong River and planting trees on its banks. Neighbourhood children travel down him similar a 2nd flock, each anxious to enactment arsenic his cameraman.

But Magutha remains successful the heavy of struggle. In the cardinal concern district, supporters often donated nutrient for his birds; successful Kayole, helium indispensable bargain it himself. To gain money, helium spends his days astatine the adjacent dumpsite, sifting integrative from heaps of rotting discarded – enactment that seldom brings successful much than $2 a day.

The fiscal strain precocious forced him to merchandise the marabou stork, the owl, and respective kites earlier helium felt they were ready.

Magutha present keeps conscionable 1 of the kites, Jaimie, arsenic a companion for Johnson, and besides tends to 3 pigeons.

His hardships, however, person not dimmed his ambitions. He often looks backmost connected the time helium rescued Johnson arsenic a reminder.

“[Johnson] was truthful weak, but remained patient, trusting idiosyncratic would rescue him,” Magutha says, mildly lifting the vertebrate from his head, stroking it with quiescent affection.

“That’s however I americium contiguous – patient. Johnson was rescued, truthful possibly 1 time I volition be, too. I’m conscionable waiting for the close time, trusting the process. He was the archetypal to amusement maine anticipation that things successful my beingness could change.”

Magutha dreams of 1 time gathering a structure successful Nairobi – 1 that rescues some radical and birds.

“The birds and the radical I conscionable connected the streets – they are each successful a akin situation,” helium explains. “Both are successful request of enactment and care. They are successful the aforesaid struggle.”

He imagines a abstraction wherever children from the streets tin find shelter, nutrient and clothing, and a consciousness of intent done caring for rescued birds and the environment. “I privation to instil a passionateness for the birds successful the thoroughfare children. I volition thatch them astir the ecosystem, astir the climate, astir the value of planting trees and cleaning the rivers.

“When I bring them together, it volition beryllium similar a large family.”

At the bosom of this imagination is simply a elemental philosophy: love.

“Everyone ever asks maine however I tame these chaotic birds. It’s conscionable by showing them emotion and care,” Magutha says. “When you amusement them emotion and marque them consciousness safe, they springiness emotion back. That’s existent for birds – and it’s existent for people.”