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Chelmsford Dam (27572957)
KwaZulu-Natal
CWAC status	REGISTERED-COUNTED IRREGULARLY
Authority	Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife & Private
Management status	UNKNOWN
Conservation status	UNKNOWN
IBA information
Ramsar information
Heritage information
View Cards	Click here

Information
Date_registered
1995-07-23
Brief_description
A global Important Bird Area. A large dam with grassy shores, some fringing reedbeds and some sedges; counted by boat. All three crane species occur; Corncrake and Grass Owl recorded; large breeding colony of Cattle Egret and cormorants. Important moulting site for waterfowl. Only one summer and 3 winter counts available. Summer 1997 count notable for large numbers of Darter and Cattle Egret. Winter counts of Yellowbilled Duck increasing: nationally significant numbers of this species were present in winter 1997, when the largest counts of Grey Heron, Whitefaced Duck, Redbilled Teal and Hadeda Ibis were also recorded; Spurwinged Goose peaked in winter 1995, and Egyptian Goose and Redknobbed Coot in winter 1996. 40 Lesser Flamingo were present in winter 1995. No threats have been identified.

Spp	Common name	Taxonomic name	Min	Avg	Max	Subregional IBA	RAMSAR
72		Scopus umbretta	4	4.00	4
269	Avocet, Pied	Recurvirostra avosetta	5	5.00	5
212	Coot, Red-knobbed	Fulica cristata	4	43.10	90
50	Cormorant, Reed	Microcarbo africanus	3	59.09	282
47	Cormorant, White-breasted	Phalacrocorax lucidus	4	18.09	40
203	Crake, Black	Zaporina flavirostra	1	1.00	1
214	Crane, Grey Crowned	Balearica regulorum	2	17.29	45
52	Darter, African	Anhinga rufa	3	42.64	225
101	Duck, Fulvous Whistling	Dendrocygna bicolor	2	10.00	18
91	Duck, Knob-billed	Sarkidiornis melanotos	3	12.80	31
100	Duck, White-faced Whistling	Dendrocygna viduata	2	165.50	441
96	Duck, Yellow-billed	Anas undulata	37	446.45	1162	850	1000
58	Egret, Great	Ardea alba	1	8.25	32
60	Egret, Intermediate [x]	Ardea intermedia	2	2.00	2
59	Egret, Little	Egretta garzetta	1	1.75	4
61	Egret, Western Cattle	Bubulcus ibis	11	425.40	2342
149	Fish Eagle, African	Haliaeetus vocifer	1	1.29	2
86	Flamingo, Greater	Phoenicopterus roseus	1	1.50	2
87	Flamingo, Lesser	Phoeniconaias minor	6	19.33	40
205	Flufftail, Red-chested	Sarothrura rufa	1	1.00	1
89	Goose, Egyptian	Alopochen aegyptiaca	10	396.27	1486
88	Goose, Spur-winged	Plectropterus gambensis	14	770.45	3093	1875	710
4	Grebe, Great Crested	Podiceps cristatus	3	3.00	3
6	Grebe, Little	Tachybaptus ruficollis	4	8.29	13
263	Greenshank, Common	Tringa nebularia	1	1.00	1
288	Gull, Grey-headed	Chroicocephalus cirrocephalus	2	2.50	3
167	Harrier, African Marsh	Circus ranivorus	1	1.60	3
55	Heron, Black-headed	Ardea melanocephala	2	8.00	25
56	Heron, Goliath	Ardea goliath	2	5.75	9
54	Heron, Grey	Ardea cinerea	1	9.45	30
57	Heron, Purple	Ardea purpurea	1	2.50	4
62	Heron, Squacco	Ardeola ralloides	1	2.00	3
81	Ibis, African Sacred	Threskiornis aethiopicus	1	16.71	68
83	Ibis, Glossy	Plegadis falcinellus	3	3.00	3
84	Ibis, Hadada	Bostrychia hagedash	2	17.00	98
228	Jacana, African	Actophilornis africanus	1	1.00	1
397	Kingfisher, Malachite	Corythornis cristatus	1	2.50	4
394	Kingfisher, Pied	Ceryle rudis	1	3.00	6
247	Lapwing, African Wattled	Vanellus senegallus	2	2.00	2
245	Lapwing, Blacksmith	Vanellus armatus	14	31.40	59
509	Martin, Brown-throated	Riparia paludicola	1	1.00	1
210	Moorhen, Common	Gallinula chloropus	1	2.75	5
69	Night Heron, Black-crowned	Nycticorax nycticorax	3	3.00	3
172	Osprey, Western	Pandion haliaetus	1	1.00	1
360	Owl, African Grass	Tyto capensis	1	1.67	2
361	Owl, Marsh	Asio capensis	1	1.33	2
241	Plover, Grey	Pluvialis squatarola	34	34.00	34
238	Plover, Three-banded	Charadrius tricollaris	1	7.40	21
102	Pochard, Southern	Netta erythrophthalma	4	9.25	18
197	Rail, African	Rallus caerulescens	1	1.00	1		-1
258	Sandpiper, Common	Actitis hypoleucos	1	2.67	4
251	Sandpiper, Curlew	Calidris ferruginea	36	36.00	36
262	Sandpiper, Marsh	Tringa stagnatilis	3	3.00	3
264	Sandpiper, Wood	Tringa glareola	1	14.50	28
90	Shelduck, South African	Tadorna cana	2	2.50	3
94	Shoveler, Cape	Anas smithii	2	3.00	4
250	Snipe, African	Gallinago nigripennis	5	5.00	5
85	Spoonbill, African	Platalea alba	1	6.00	17
270	Stilt, Black-winged	Himantopus himantopus	4	5.67	7
253	Stint, Little	Calidris minuta	29	29.00	29
208	Swamphen, African	Porphyrio madagascariensis	1	2.00	3
99	Teal, Blue-billed	Anas hottentota	1	8.50	22
97	Teal, Red-billed	Anas erythrorhyncha	6	121.63	634
290	Tern, Caspian	Hydroprogne caspia	2	5.00	8
305	Tern, Whiskered	Chlidonias hybrida	2	2.00	2
304	Tern, White-winged	Chlidonias leucopterus	2	2.00	2
686	Wagtail, Cape	Motacilla capensis	7	19.75	29

Tuesday 23 December 2025 01:36
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

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Chelmsford Dam (27572957)

KwaZulu-Natal

Information