Zandvlei: Upper Estuary (34061828) | |
|---|---|
Western Cape | |
| CWAC status | REGISTERED-COUNTED REGULARLY |
| Authority | City of Cape Town Biodiversity Management Branch & Private |
| Management status | TOWN COUNCIL PROPERTY |
| Conservation status | PARTLY PROTECTED |
| IBA information | |
| Ramsar information | |
| Heritage information | |
| View Cards | Click here |
Information |
|---|
| Date_registered |
| 1993-01-09 |
| Brief_description |
| An open estuary, with some reedbeds and other emergent vegetation. Holds a good variety of birds, including Purple Heron, Little Bittern and Purple Gallinule. Cormorant counts peak in winter; numbers of Darter, Cape Teal, Redknobbed Coot, Blackwinged Stilt and Hartlaub's Gull show no definite seasonal peak. There were unusually large counts of Blacksmith Plover in summer 1993, of Cape Shoveller in the 1994-1996 summers, of Sacred Ibis in summer 1994, and of Egyptian Goose in winter 1997. Numbers of Darter show some overall increase but Cape Teal appear to be declining. Severe threats are posed by invasive alien plants (Paspalum grass and Eichhornia); important threats include eutrophication, and pollution by solid waste. Hunting, fishing, domestic dogs and cats, and residential development, are also problems. Mallard pose some hybridization threat. The site covers the pans in the Zandvlei Nature Reserve and the upper parts of the estuary down to the Sea Scout base. |
| Spp | Common name | Taxonomic name | Min | Avg | Max | IBA | Subregional IBA | RAMSAR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1016 | Anas platyrhynchos | 1 | 8.34 | 56 | ||||
| 269 | Avocet, Pied | Recurvirostra avosetta | 1 | 42.71 | 180 | 125 | ||
| 67 | Bittern, Little | Ixobrychus minutus | 1 | 1.38 | 3 | |||
| 212 | Coot, Red-knobbed | Fulica cristata | 7 | 394.88 | 3262 | 2500 | ||
| 48 | Cormorant, Cape | Phalacrocorax capensis | 1 | 32.00 | 205 | |||
| 50 | Cormorant, Reed | Microcarbo africanus | 2 | 41.10 | 279 | |||
| 47 | Cormorant, White-breasted | Phalacrocorax lucidus | 1 | 12.47 | 146 | 130 | ||
| 52 | Darter, African | Anhinga rufa | 1 | 20.53 | 97 | |||
| 95 | Duck, African Black | Anas sparsa | 2 | 2.00 | 2 | |||
| 10006 | Duck, Domestic | Anas platyrhynchos domesticus | 1 | 13.42 | 61 | |||
| 10005 | Duck, Hybrid | Anas hybrid | 2 | 15.00 | 40 | |||
| 10034 | Duck, Hyrbid Mallard/Yellow-billed | Anas platyrhynchos x undulata | 1 | 15.00 | 38 | |||
| 103 | Duck, Maccoa | Oxyura maccoa | 6 | 6.00 | 6 | |||
| 1017 | Duck, Mandarin | Aix galericulata | 1 | 1.00 | 1 | |||
| 10014 | Duck, Unidentified | Anas sp. | 1 | 7.88 | 23 | |||
| 104 | Duck, White-backed | Thalassornis leuconotus | 2 | 33.87 | 96 | |||
| 100 | Duck, White-faced Whistling | Dendrocygna viduata | 9 | 13.33 | 16 | |||
| 96 | Duck, Yellow-billed | Anas undulata | 1 | 24.58 | 153 | |||
| 60 | Egret, Intermediate [x] | Ardea intermedia | 1 | 1.96 | 15 | |||
| 59 | Egret, Little | Egretta garzetta | 1 | 8.12 | 42 | |||
| 982 | Egret, Slaty | Egretta vinaceigula | 1 | 1.00 | 1 | |||
| 61 | Egret, Western Cattle | Bubulcus ibis | 1 | 3.00 | 20 | |||
| 149 | Fish Eagle, African | Haliaeetus vocifer | 1 | 1.45 | 3 | |||
| 86 | Flamingo, Greater | Phoenicopterus roseus | 1 | 41.94 | 229 | |||
| 87 | Flamingo, Lesser | Phoeniconaias minor | 2 | 11.43 | 27 | |||
| 44 | Gannet, Cape | Morus capensis | 1 | 1.00 | 1 | |||
| 89 | Goose, Egyptian | Alopochen aegyptiaca | 1 | 46.32 | 1121 | |||
| 88 | Goose, Spur-winged | Plectropterus gambensis | 1 | 7.85 | 60 | |||
| 5 | Grebe, Black-necked | Podiceps nigricollis | 2 | 6.00 | 10 | |||
| 4 | Grebe, Great Crested | Podiceps cristatus | 1 | 9.33 | 44 | 25 | ||
| 6 | Grebe, Little | Tachybaptus ruficollis | 1 | 10.52 | 51 | |||
| 263 | Greenshank, Common | Tringa nebularia | 1 | 1.25 | 2 | |||
| 288 | Gull, Grey-headed | Chroicocephalus cirrocephalus | 1 | 5.52 | 36 | |||
| 289 | Gull, Hartlaub's | Chroicocephalus hartlaubii | 1 | 52.95 | 309 | 250 | 125 | 300 |
| 287 | Gull, Kelp | Larus dominicanus | 1 | 18.78 | 211 | 150 | ||
| 167 | Harrier, African Marsh | Circus ranivorus | 1 | 1.20 | 2 | |||
| 64 | Heron, Black | Egretta ardesiaca | 1 | 1.00 | 1 | |||
| 55 | Heron, Black-headed | Ardea melanocephala | 1 | 1.37 | 6 | |||
| 54 | Heron, Grey | Ardea cinerea | 1 | 3.13 | 15 | |||
| 57 | Heron, Purple | Ardea purpurea | 1 | 1.83 | 5 | |||
| 62 | Heron, Squacco | Ardeola ralloides | 1 | 1.00 | 1 | |||
| 63 | Heron, Striated | Butorides striata | 1 | 1.00 | 1 | |||
| 10011 | Heron, Unidentified | Ardea sp. | 1 | 1.00 | 1 | |||
| 81 | Ibis, African Sacred | Threskiornis aethiopicus | 1 | 9.86 | 111 | |||
| 83 | Ibis, Glossy | Plegadis falcinellus | 1 | 3.39 | 8 | |||
| 84 | Ibis, Hadada | Bostrychia hagedash | 1 | 4.64 | 13 | |||
| 228 | Jacana, African | Actophilornis africanus | 1 | 1.00 | 1 | |||
| 395 | Kingfisher, Giant | Megaceryle maxima | 1 | 1.28 | 2 | |||
| 397 | Kingfisher, Malachite | Corythornis cristatus | 1 | 1.94 | 6 | |||
| 394 | Kingfisher, Pied | Ceryle rudis | 1 | 7.32 | 19 | |||
| 245 | Lapwing, Blacksmith | Vanellus armatus | 1 | 11.66 | 112 | |||
| 10015 | Mallard, Hybrid | Anas hybrid | 1 | 38.70 | 169 | |||
| 509 | Martin, Brown-throated | Riparia paludicola | 1 | 1.00 | 1 | |||
| 210 | Moorhen, Common | Gallinula chloropus | 1 | 11.47 | 82 | |||
| 69 | Night Heron, Black-crowned | Nycticorax nycticorax | 1 | 6.70 | 31 | |||
| 230 | Painted-snipe, Greater | Rostratula benghalensis | 1 | 1.00 | 1 | |||
| 42 | Pelican, Great White | Pelecanus onocrotalus | 1 | 5.95 | 17 | |||
| 241 | Plover, Grey | Pluvialis squatarola | 1 | 1.00 | 1 | |||
| 237 | Plover, Kittlitz's | Charadrius pecuarius | 1 | 2.33 | 5 | |||
| 238 | Plover, Three-banded | Charadrius tricollaris | 1 | 2.65 | 9 | |||
| 102 | Pochard, Southern | Netta erythrophthalma | 1 | 1.75 | 2 | |||
| 258 | Sandpiper, Common | Actitis hypoleucos | 1 | 1.33 | 2 | |||
| 262 | Sandpiper, Marsh | Tringa stagnatilis | 1 | 1.50 | 2 | |||
| 264 | Sandpiper, Wood | Tringa glareola | 1 | 1.25 | 2 | |||
| 90 | Shelduck, South African | Tadorna cana | 2 | 2.00 | 2 | |||
| 94 | Shoveler, Cape | Anas smithii | 1 | 9.95 | 82 | |||
| 85 | Spoonbill, African | Platalea alba | 1 | 4.67 | 31 | |||
| 270 | Stilt, Black-winged | Himantopus himantopus | 1 | 12.82 | 54 | |||
| 78 | Stork, Abdim's | Ciconia abdimii | 19 | 19.00 | 19 | |||
| 76 | Stork, Yellow-billed | Mycteria ibis | 1 | 1.00 | 1 | |||
| 208 | Swamphen, African | Porphyrio madagascariensis | 1 | 1.95 | 5 | |||
| 10007 | Swan, Black | Cygnus atratus | 1 | 1.00 | 1 | |||
| 884 | Swan, Mute | Cygnus olor | 2 | 2.00 | 2 | |||
| 99 | Teal, Blue-billed | Anas hottentota | 1 | 2.50 | 4 | |||
| 98 | Teal, Cape | Anas capensis | 1 | 12.31 | 40 | |||
| 97 | Teal, Red-billed | Anas erythrorhyncha | 1 | 3.69 | 8 | |||
| 290 | Tern, Caspian | Hydroprogne caspia | 1 | 3.86 | 16 | |||
| 291 | Tern, Common | Sterna hirundo | 1 | 3.13 | 13 | |||
| 298 | Tern, Greater Crested | Thalasseus bergii | 1 | 1.90 | 4 | |||
| 296 | Tern, Sandwich | Thalasseus sandvicensis | 1 | 1.70 | 4 | |||
| 10009 | Tern, Unidentified | N/A N/A | 4 | 4.00 | 4 | |||
| 305 | Tern, Whiskered | Chlidonias hybrida | 1 | 1.67 | 3 | |||
| 304 | Tern, White-winged | Chlidonias leucopterus | 1 | 3.67 | 11 | |||
| 274 | Thick-knee, Water | Burhinus vermiculatus | 1 | 3.05 | 8 | |||
| 10008 | Wader, Unidentified | N/A N/A | 1 | 1.50 | 2 | |||
| 686 | Wagtail, Cape | Motacilla capensis | 1 | 4.99 | 18 |
Friday 30 January 2026 07:32
FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology
Department
of Biological Sciences - University of Cape Town
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