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Orange River: Mouth - Bridge (28381628)
Northern Cape
CWAC status	REGISTERED-COUNTS SUSPENDED
Authority	Northern Cape Department of Tourism, Environment and Conservation
Management status	MINING PROPERTY
Conservation status	PARTLY PROTECTED
IBA information	SA030 - ORANGE RIVER MOUTH WETLANDS
Ramsar information	ZA010 - Orange River Mouth
Heritage information
View Cards	No

Information
Date_registered
1997-02-01
Brief_description
IBA and Ramsar site, important for bird breeding and migration stopover. A delta-type river mouth with a braided channel during low flow months. Has sandbars, tidal basin, narrow floodplain, marshes (Phragmites, Scirpus, Sporobolus, Sarcocornia), pans, and a saltmarsh on one bank of the river mouth. Two counts (summer and winter 1997) are available, recording a large variety of waterbirds, including globally significant counts of Kelp and Hartlaub's Gulls, and nationally significant numbers of South African Shelduck and Cape Shoveller. Large numbers of Cape Teal, Avocet, Whitefronted, Chestnutbanded, Kittlitz's and Blacksmith Plovers, and Cape Wagtail, recorded; also good numbers of White Pelican and both flamingos. A severe threat is degradation of the salt marsh through mining; important threats are hunting/poaching, boating, fishing, livestock grazing/trampling, and siltation. Count is done from the Mouth up to the Sir Ernst Oppenheimer Bridge.

Spp	Common name	Taxonomic name	Min	Avg	Max	IBA	Subregional IBA	RAMSAR
72		Scopus umbretta	1	1.50	2
255		Calidris alba	1	19.67	75
1016		Anas platyrhynchos	1	1.50	3
256		Calidris pugnax	1	60.83	197
269	Avocet, Pied	Recurvirostra avosetta	71	304.89	891	250	125	190
67	Bittern, Little	Ixobrychus minutus	1	1.00	1
212	Coot, Red-knobbed	Fulica cristata	1	77.39	334
48	Cormorant, Cape	Phalacrocorax capensis	1	137.74	984
51	Cormorant, Crowned	Microcarbo coronatus	1	1.00	1
50	Cormorant, Reed	Microcarbo africanus	1	14.21	42
47	Cormorant, White-breasted	Phalacrocorax lucidus	3	119.07	466			130
267	Curlew, Eurasian	Numenius arquata	1	1.00	1
52	Darter, African	Anhinga rufa	1	20.81	58
95	Duck, African Black	Anas sparsa	5	6.00	7
101	Duck, Fulvous Whistling	Dendrocygna bicolor	1	3.00	5
103	Duck, Maccoa	Oxyura maccoa	1	8.25	22
10014	Duck, Unidentified	Anas sp.	1	13.38	73
96	Duck, Yellow-billed	Anas undulata	17	84.82	181
58	Egret, Great	Ardea alba	1	1.00	1
59	Egret, Little	Egretta garzetta	5	57.45	222
61	Egret, Western Cattle	Bubulcus ibis	1	187.84	519
149	Fish Eagle, African	Haliaeetus vocifer	1	1.81	5
86	Flamingo, Greater	Phoenicopterus roseus	1	180.55	700		625
87	Flamingo, Lesser	Phoeniconaias minor	2	838.28	3002			600
44	Gannet, Cape	Morus capensis	1	1.00	1
89	Goose, Egyptian	Alopochen aegyptiaca	7	77.90	366
88	Goose, Spur-winged	Plectropterus gambensis	2	22.90	75
5	Grebe, Black-necked	Podiceps nigricollis	1	40.43	125		125
4	Grebe, Great Crested	Podiceps cristatus	1	1.00	1
6	Grebe, Little	Tachybaptus ruficollis	1	34.68	96
263	Greenshank, Common	Tringa nebularia	1	16.18	77
932	Gull, Franklin's	Leucophaeus pipixcan	1	1.00	1
288	Gull, Grey-headed	Chroicocephalus cirrocephalus	1	2.50	6
289	Gull, Hartlaub's	Chroicocephalus hartlaubii	17	236.79	707	250	125	300
287	Gull, Kelp	Larus dominicanus	15	336.10	1098	300	150	700
167	Harrier, African Marsh	Circus ranivorus	1	1.75	4
64	Heron, Black	Egretta ardesiaca	1	1.00	1
55	Heron, Black-headed	Ardea melanocephala	1	4.75	9
56	Heron, Goliath	Ardea goliath	1	1.70	3
54	Heron, Grey	Ardea cinerea	1	18.66	57
57	Heron, Purple	Ardea purpurea	1	1.90	4
62	Heron, Squacco	Ardeola ralloides	1	1.00	1
81	Ibis, African Sacred	Threskiornis aethiopicus	1	14.70	60
83	Ibis, Glossy	Plegadis falcinellus	1	3.50	6
84	Ibis, Hadada	Bostrychia hagedash	1	3.19	8
228	Jacana, African	Actophilornis africanus	1	2.67	6
285	Jaeger, Pomarine	Stercorarius pomarinus	1	1.00	1
395	Kingfisher, Giant	Megaceryle maxima	1	1.00	1
397	Kingfisher, Malachite	Corythornis cristatus	1	1.50	3
394	Kingfisher, Pied	Ceryle rudis	2	20.03	46
254	Knot, Red	Calidris canutus	1	7.50	14
245	Lapwing, Blacksmith	Vanellus armatus	10	113.00	424
10015	Mallard, Hybrid	Anas hybrid	3	3.00	3
509	Martin, Brown-throated	Riparia paludicola	1	1.00	1
210	Moorhen, Common	Gallinula chloropus	1	8.74	45
69	Night Heron, Black-crowned	Nycticorax nycticorax	1	13.50	35
172	Osprey, Western	Pandion haliaetus	1	1.00	1
361	Owl, Marsh	Asio capensis	1	2.00	3
231	Oystercatcher, African	Haematopus moquini	1	3.89	9
230	Painted-snipe, Greater	Rostratula benghalensis	2	2.00	2
42	Pelican, Great White	Pelecanus onocrotalus	3	120.36	395			300
236	Plover, Chestnut-banded	Charadrius pallidus	2	49.05	181			130
233	Plover, Common Ringed	Charadrius hiaticula	1	62.39	206
241	Plover, Grey	Pluvialis squatarola	1	8.83	40
237	Plover, Kittlitz's	Charadrius pecuarius	2	63.69	248
238	Plover, Three-banded	Charadrius tricollaris	1	17.43	62
235	Plover, White-fronted	Charadrius marginatus	4	54.48	164		125
102	Pochard, Southern	Netta erythrophthalma	1	2.00	3
258	Sandpiper, Common	Actitis hypoleucos	1	3.67	10
251	Sandpiper, Curlew	Calidris ferruginea	7	501.22	1666
262	Sandpiper, Marsh	Tringa stagnatilis	1	10.69	59
264	Sandpiper, Wood	Tringa glareola	1	3.83	12
90	Shelduck, South African	Tadorna cana	14	190.52	678	420	210	500
94	Shoveler, Cape	Anas smithii	28	150.64	373	350	175	350
85	Spoonbill, African	Platalea alba	7	38.66	131		75
270	Stilt, Black-winged	Himantopus himantopus	1	28.25	73
253	Stint, Little	Calidris minuta	1	330.04	1165
208	Swamphen, African	Porphyrio madagascariensis	1	2.00	4
98	Teal, Cape	Anas capensis	7	183.38	470
97	Teal, Red-billed	Anas erythrorhyncha	2	46.04	186
294	Tern, Arctic	Sterna paradisaea	14	14.00	14
290	Tern, Caspian	Hydroprogne caspia	1	24.76	165	135	68	20
291	Tern, Common	Sterna hirundo	1	461.23	4507		4000	1800
300	Tern, Damara	Sternula balaenarum	1	21.53	58
298	Tern, Greater Crested	Thalasseus bergii	1	88.78	566	500	250	200
299	Tern, Little	Sternula albifrons	1	21.67	63
296	Tern, Sandwich	Thalasseus sandvicensis	1	89.19	602
10009	Tern, Unidentified	N/A N/A	3	294.36	1500
304	Tern, White-winged	Chlidonias leucopterus	3	10.00	17
274	Thick-knee, Water	Burhinus vermiculatus	1	1.00	1
232	Turnstone, Ruddy	Arenaria interpres	1	11.77	49
10008	Wader, Unidentified	N/A N/A	1	184.52	778
685	Wagtail, African Pied	Motacilla aguimp	1	3.40	13
686	Wagtail, Cape	Motacilla capensis	17	66.00	138

Wednesday 05 November 2025 11:44
FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology
Department of Biological Sciences - University of Cape Town

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Orange River: Mouth - Bridge (28381628)

Northern Cape

Information