CWAC | Coordinated Waterbird Counts

Home
About us
Contact us
Aims & Protocol
BIRDIE
Docs & Forms
Sites - List
Species - List

Kei River Estuary (32402821)
Eastern Cape
CWAC status	NEWLY REGISTERED
Authority	Unknown
Management status	UNKNOWN
Conservation status	UNPROTECTED
IBA information
Ramsar information
Heritage information
View Cards	Click here

Information
Date_registered
2012-04-13
Brief_description
The Kei Estuary lies approximately 50km north-east of East London. As far as I am aware it does not have any protected area status. The count stretch extends from Nthombe Kei on the southern shore approx. 6.5 km upstream to the mouth. The vegetation along the northern bank is mainly grassland with thicket but there is a steep section opposite Nthombe Kei. Towards the mouth there is grazing land and an area of salt marsh near the mouth. The southern shore is bounded by thicket for most of its length with an area of open sand and mud flats near to the mouth. I am not presently aware of any threats to the area being counted.

Spp	Common name	Taxonomic name	Min	Avg	Max	RAMSAR
256		Calidris pugnax	2	13.94	50
255		Calidris alba	2	16.13	51
72		Scopus umbretta	1	1.91	5
269	Avocet, Pied	Recurvirostra avosetta	2	3.50	5
212	Coot, Red-knobbed	Fulica cristata	14	14.00	14
48	Cormorant, Cape	Phalacrocorax capensis	1	16.64	50
51	Cormorant, Crowned	Microcarbo coronatus	4	4.00	4
50	Cormorant, Reed	Microcarbo africanus	1	5.67	14
47	Cormorant, White-breasted	Phalacrocorax lucidus	1	8.33	17
201	Crake, Spotted	Porzana porzana	1	1.00	1
214	Crane, Grey Crowned	Balearica regulorum	2	3.00	4
52	Darter, African	Anhinga rufa	1	2.91	7
95	Duck, African Black	Anas sparsa	1	1.27	2
10014	Duck, Unidentified	Anas sp.	31	31.00	31
100	Duck, White-faced Whistling	Dendrocygna viduata	8	8.00	8
96	Duck, Yellow-billed	Anas undulata	4	29.00	71
58	Egret, Great	Ardea alba	1	1.29	2
59	Egret, Little	Egretta garzetta	1	2.35	4
61	Egret, Western Cattle	Bubulcus ibis	2	9.00	38
14799	Egret, Yellow-billed	Egretta brachyrhyncha	1	1.00	1
149	Fish Eagle, African	Haliaeetus vocifer	1	2.22	5
86	Flamingo, Greater	Phoenicopterus roseus	19	38.00	75
266	Godwit, Bar-tailed	Limosa lapponica	1	1.00	1
89	Goose, Egyptian	Alopochen aegyptiaca	3	14.72	41
88	Goose, Spur-winged	Plectropterus gambensis	1	1.00	1
6	Grebe, Little	Tachybaptus ruficollis	1	1.00	1
263	Greenshank, Common	Tringa nebularia	1	11.16	68
288	Gull, Grey-headed	Chroicocephalus cirrocephalus	1	1.00	1
287	Gull, Kelp	Larus dominicanus	2	9.40	23
167	Harrier, African Marsh	Circus ranivorus	1	1.00	1
55	Heron, Black-headed	Ardea melanocephala	1	6.00	44
56	Heron, Goliath	Ardea goliath	1	1.38	3
54	Heron, Grey	Ardea cinerea	1	6.78	20
62	Heron, Squacco	Ardeola ralloides	1	1.00	1
81	Ibis, African Sacred	Threskiornis aethiopicus	2	8.19	34
84	Ibis, Hadada	Bostrychia hagedash	1	3.62	13
395	Kingfisher, Giant	Megaceryle maxima	1	1.00	1
397	Kingfisher, Malachite	Corythornis cristatus	1	1.00	1
394	Kingfisher, Pied	Ceryle rudis	1	2.27	6
245	Lapwing, Blacksmith	Vanellus armatus	7	27.64	59
210	Moorhen, Common	Gallinula chloropus	1	1.17	2
172	Osprey, Western	Pandion haliaetus	1	1.00	1
231	Oystercatcher, African	Haematopus moquini	1	7.00	23
42	Pelican, Great White	Pelecanus onocrotalus	1	1.00	1
236	Plover, Chestnut-banded	Charadrius pallidus	1	1.00	1
233	Plover, Common Ringed	Charadrius hiaticula	9	35.23	78
239	Plover, Greater Sand	Charadrius leschenaultii	1	1.00	1
241	Plover, Grey	Pluvialis squatarola	1	5.48	14
237	Plover, Kittlitz's	Charadrius pecuarius	2	9.08	22
1039	Plover, Pacific Golden	Pluvialis fulva	1	1.00	1
238	Plover, Three-banded	Charadrius tricollaris	1	10.79	29
235	Plover, White-fronted	Charadrius marginatus	2	30.15	71
258	Sandpiper, Common	Actitis hypoleucos	1	5.76	19
251	Sandpiper, Curlew	Calidris ferruginea	1	32.95	97
262	Sandpiper, Marsh	Tringa stagnatilis	1	1.00	1
895	Sandpiper, Pectoral	Calidris melanotos	1	1.00	1
257	Sandpiper, Terek	Xenus cinereus	1	3.18	15
264	Sandpiper, Wood	Tringa glareola	1	10.13	19
90	Shelduck, South African	Tadorna cana	2	4.00	8
94	Shoveler, Cape	Anas smithii	1	1.00	1
250	Snipe, African	Gallinago nigripennis	1	1.40	2
85	Spoonbill, African	Platalea alba	2	8.85	23
270	Stilt, Black-winged	Himantopus himantopus	1	10.00	14
253	Stint, Little	Calidris minuta	2	10.67	29
208	Swamphen, African	Porphyrio madagascariensis	1	1.25	2
98	Teal, Cape	Anas capensis	22	22.00	22
97	Teal, Red-billed	Anas erythrorhyncha	1	10.61	32
290	Tern, Caspian	Hydroprogne caspia	1	5.57	26	20
291	Tern, Common	Sterna hirundo	1	187.08	1120
298	Tern, Greater Crested	Thalasseus bergii	1	52.43	208	200
299	Tern, Little	Sternula albifrons	3	33.92	83
296	Tern, Sandwich	Thalasseus sandvicensis	2	140.14	490
274	Thick-knee, Water	Burhinus vermiculatus	1	6.42	13
232	Turnstone, Ruddy	Arenaria interpres	1	8.29	27
10008	Wader, Unidentified	N/A N/A	2	2.00	2
685	Wagtail, African Pied	Motacilla aguimp	1	1.75	4
686	Wagtail, Cape	Motacilla capensis	7	17.40	38
268	Whimbrel, Eurasian	Numenius phaeopus	1	11.72	34

Sunday 07 June 2026 07:14
FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology
Department of Biological Sciences - University of Cape Town

This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License

This website uses cookies to track and manage data. By using the Service, you consent to the use of cookies.

What are cookies

When you visit any web site, it may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. This information might be about you, your preferences or your device and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to. The information does not usually directly identify you, but it can give you a more personalised web experience.

Email:	CS/ADU no:	Password:
			Forgot/Reset password

Kei River Estuary (32402821)

Eastern Cape

Information