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Marievale Bird Sanctuary: Area B (26212831)
Gauteng
CWAC status	REGISTERED-COUNTED REGULARLY
Authority	Private
Management status	LOCAL GAME/NATURE RESERVE
Conservation status	PROTECTED
IBA information	SA021 - BLESBOKSPRUIT
Ramsar information
Heritage information
View Cards	Click here

Information
Date_registered
2000-08-02
Brief_description
An IBA and part of the Blesbokspruit Ramsar site. Has extensive Phragmites and Typha reedbeds, also sedgebeds, wet grass, and open water with floating-leaved vegetation. Good numbers of Glossy Ibis, Yellowbilled Duck and Redknobbed Coot occur all year; Squacco Heron may be quite common in summer. Hottentot Teal and Spurwinged Goose numbers peak in winter. A good selection of rails occurs, and Spotted Crake is also recorded. Purple Heron, Little Bittern, Grass Owl and Marsh Owl also occur. Increases are apparent in the number of species (summer and winter) and total count (summer). Blesbokspruit is severely threatened by discharge of mine water which drastically increases total water volume, maintains artificially high water levels in the dry season, and contains many pollutants, including salt. The CWAC site known as "Marievale Area B" is the area opened up due to the spraying of the reed beds to manage the the reed encroachment. This includes sections A, B, C, and D.

Spp	Common name	Taxonomic name	Min	Avg	Max	Subregional IBA	RAMSAR
72		Scopus umbretta	1	1.50	2
256		Calidris pugnax	1	37.61	125
269	Avocet, Pied	Recurvirostra avosetta	1	19.05	122
67	Bittern, Little	Ixobrychus minutus	1	2.45	6
212	Coot, Red-knobbed	Fulica cristata	36	170.24	558
50	Cormorant, Reed	Microcarbo africanus	1	19.02	54
47	Cormorant, White-breasted	Phalacrocorax lucidus	1	5.88	18
202	Crake, Baillon's	Zaporina pusilla	2	2.00	2
203	Crake, Black	Zaporina flavirostra	1	6.22	17
52	Darter, African	Anhinga rufa	1	2.92	14
95	Duck, African Black	Anas sparsa	1	3.00	6
101	Duck, Fulvous Whistling	Dendrocygna bicolor	1	10.04	63
10034	Duck, Hyrbid Mallard/Yellow-billed	Anas platyrhynchos x undulata	4	4.00	4
91	Duck, Knob-billed	Sarkidiornis melanotos	13	13.00	13
10014	Duck, Unidentified	Anas sp.	1	6.40	19
104	Duck, White-backed	Thalassornis leuconotus	1	1.00	1
100	Duck, White-faced Whistling	Dendrocygna viduata	1	6.53	50
96	Duck, Yellow-billed	Anas undulata	10	82.39	272
58	Egret, Great	Ardea alba	1	1.00	1
60	Egret, Intermediate [x]	Ardea intermedia	1	1.80	4
59	Egret, Little	Egretta garzetta	1	3.42	11
982	Egret, Slaty	Egretta vinaceigula	1	1.00	1
61	Egret, Western Cattle	Bubulcus ibis	1	16.29	61
149	Fish Eagle, African	Haliaeetus vocifer	1	1.00	1
86	Flamingo, Greater	Phoenicopterus roseus	1	13.43	64
87	Flamingo, Lesser	Phoeniconaias minor	1	78.67	424
205	Flufftail, Red-chested	Sarothrura rufa	1	1.56	4
265	Godwit, Black-tailed	Limosa limosa	3	3.00	3
89	Goose, Egyptian	Alopochen aegyptiaca	1	34.20	347
88	Goose, Spur-winged	Plectropterus gambensis	1	153.33	1272		710
5	Grebe, Black-necked	Podiceps nigricollis	2	2.00	2
4	Grebe, Great Crested	Podiceps cristatus	1	1.43	2
6	Grebe, Little	Tachybaptus ruficollis	1	8.48	39
263	Greenshank, Common	Tringa nebularia	1	3.05	18
288	Gull, Grey-headed	Chroicocephalus cirrocephalus	1	13.33	65
167	Harrier, African Marsh	Circus ranivorus	1	1.72	3
166	Harrier, Western Marsh	Circus aeruginosus	1	1.20	2
64	Heron, Black	Egretta ardesiaca	1	4.38	14
55	Heron, Black-headed	Ardea melanocephala	1	4.48	16
56	Heron, Goliath	Ardea goliath	1	2.32	6
54	Heron, Grey	Ardea cinerea	1	3.27	17
57	Heron, Purple	Ardea purpurea	1	2.91	8
62	Heron, Squacco	Ardeola ralloides	1	8.24	52
63	Heron, Striated	Butorides striata	1	1.00	1
81	Ibis, African Sacred	Threskiornis aethiopicus	1	9.47	47
83	Ibis, Glossy	Plegadis falcinellus	1	38.45	526	500
84	Ibis, Hadada	Bostrychia hagedash	1	6.80	33
228	Jacana, African	Actophilornis africanus	1	2.30	6
395	Kingfisher, Giant	Megaceryle maxima	1	1.25	2
397	Kingfisher, Malachite	Corythornis cristatus	1	2.38	15
394	Kingfisher, Pied	Ceryle rudis	0	2.60	10
247	Lapwing, African Wattled	Vanellus senegallus	1	3.45	18
245	Lapwing, Blacksmith	Vanellus armatus	2	29.42	140
210	Moorhen, Common	Gallinula chloropus	8	40.84	118
211	Moorhen, Lesser	Paragallinula angulata	1	1.00	1
69	Night Heron, Black-crowned	Nycticorax nycticorax	1	3.07	9
361	Owl, Marsh	Asio capensis	1	1.50	3
230	Painted-snipe, Greater	Rostratula benghalensis	2	2.50	3
233	Plover, Common Ringed	Charadrius hiaticula	1	3.43	7
237	Plover, Kittlitz's	Charadrius pecuarius	1	2.33	5
238	Plover, Three-banded	Charadrius tricollaris	1	6.35	28
102	Pochard, Southern	Netta erythrophthalma	2	7.44	17
197	Rail, African	Rallus caerulescens	1	4.45	13		-1
258	Sandpiper, Common	Actitis hypoleucos	1	5.00	18
251	Sandpiper, Curlew	Calidris ferruginea	1	7.75	28
262	Sandpiper, Marsh	Tringa stagnatilis	1	4.50	14
264	Sandpiper, Wood	Tringa glareola	1	3.87	21
90	Shelduck, South African	Tadorna cana	1	33.53	219	210
94	Shoveler, Cape	Anas smithii	1	14.60	51
250	Snipe, African	Gallinago nigripennis	1	13.86	62
85	Spoonbill, African	Platalea alba	1	4.39	18
270	Stilt, Black-winged	Himantopus himantopus	2	14.42	47
253	Stint, Little	Calidris minuta	1	22.93	102
80	Stork, White	Ciconia ciconia	5	5.00	5		1
76	Stork, Yellow-billed	Mycteria ibis	1	4.20	20
208	Swamphen, African	Porphyrio madagascariensis	1	12.76	60	50
99	Teal, Blue-billed	Anas hottentota	2	23.88	74
98	Teal, Cape	Anas capensis	1	3.71	11
97	Teal, Red-billed	Anas erythrorhyncha	1	48.55	291
290	Tern, Caspian	Hydroprogne caspia	2	2.00	2
305	Tern, Whiskered	Chlidonias hybrida	1	13.87	57
304	Tern, White-winged	Chlidonias leucopterus	1	9.43	160
10008	Wader, Unidentified	N/A N/A	11	11.00	11
686	Wagtail, Cape	Motacilla capensis	1	5.76	18
689	Wagtail, Western Yellow	Motacilla flava	16	16.00	16

Thursday 18 September 2025 06:11
FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology
Department of Biological Sciences - University of Cape Town

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Marievale Bird Sanctuary: Area B (26212831)

Gauteng

Information