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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
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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.

SppCommon nameTaxonomic nameMinAvgMaxIBASubregional
IBA
RAMSAR
255Calidris alba18.6018   
256Calidris pugnax164.35197  
1016Anas platyrhynchos11.503
10015Anas hybrid33.003
72Scopus umbretta11.502   
269Avocet, PiedRecurvirostra avosetta76327.80891250125190
67Bittern, LittleIxobrychus minutus11.001   
212Coot, Red-knobbedFulica cristata186.92334   
48Cormorant, CapePhalacrocorax capensis1114.26984   
51Cormorant, CrownedMicrocarbo coronatus11.001   
50Cormorant, ReedMicrocarbo africanus111.5827   
47Cormorant, White-breasted Phalacrocorax lucidus3128.52466  130
267Curlew, EurasianNumenius arquata11.001   
52Darter, AfricanAnhinga rufa121.6458   
95Duck, African BlackAnas sparsa56.007   
101Duck, Fulvous WhistlingDendrocygna bicolor13.005   
103Duck, MaccoaOxyura maccoa18.6422   
10014Duck, UnidentifiedN/A N/A114.2773
96Duck, Yellow-billedAnas undulata3689.88181   
149Eagle, African FishHaliaeetus vocifer11.775
58Egret, GreatArdea alba11.001   
59Egret, LittleEgretta garzetta561.16222   
61Egret, Western CattleBubulcus ibis9213.05519   
86Flamingo, Greater Phoenicopterus roseus1180.92700 625 
87Flamingo, LesserPhoeniconaias minor2737.362638  600
44Gannet, CapeMorus capensis11.001
89Goose, EgyptianAlopochen aegyptiaca764.72238   
88Goose, Spur-wingedPlectropterus gambensis223.5275   
5Grebe, Black-neckedPodiceps nigricollis343.46125 125 
4Grebe, Great CrestedPodiceps cristatus11.001   
6Grebe, LittleTachybaptus ruficollis137.9696   
263Greenshank, CommonTringa nebularia117.5277   
932Gull, Franklin'sLeucophaeus pipixcan11.001
288Gull, Grey-headedChroicocephalus cirrocephalus12.646   
289Gull, Hartlaub'sChroicocephalus hartlaubii17266.08707250125300
287Gull, KelpLarus dominicanus15367.801098300150700
167Harrier, African MarshCircus ranivorus11.794
64Heron, BlackEgretta ardesiaca11.001   
69Heron, Black-crowned NightNycticorax nycticorax112.9432   
55Heron, Black-headedArdea melanocephala15.009   
56Heron, GoliathArdea goliath11.292   
54Heron, GreyArdea cinerea119.6857   
57Heron, PurpleArdea purpurea12.004   
62Heron, SquaccoArdeola ralloides11.001   
81Ibis, African SacredThreskiornis aethiopicus110.0050   
83Ibis, GlossyPlegadis falcinellus13.826   
84Ibis, Hadada Bostrychia hagedash12.897   
228Jacana, AfricanActophilornis africanus12.676   
285Jaeger, PomarineStercorarius pomarinus11.001
395Kingfisher, GiantMegaceryle maxima11.001
397Kingfisher, MalachiteCorythornis cristatus11.503
394Kingfisher, PiedCeryle rudis219.0846
254Knot, RedCalidris canutus11.001   
245Lapwing, BlacksmithVanellus armatus10127.56424   
509Martin, Brown-throatedRiparia paludicola11.001
210Moorhen, CommonGallinula chloropus19.7145   
172Osprey, WesternPandion haliaetus11.001
361Owl, MarshAsio capensis12.003
231Oystercatcher, AfricanHaematopus moquini13.509   
230Painted-snipe, GreaterRostratula benghalensis22.002   
42Pelican, Great WhitePelecanus onocrotalus18130.38395  300
236Plover, Chestnut-bandedCharadrius pallidus249.05181  130
233Plover, Common RingedCharadrius hiaticula166.00206   
241Plover, GreyPluvialis squatarola19.3640   
237Plover, Kittlitz'sCharadrius pecuarius268.79248   
238Plover, Three-bandedCharadrius tricollaris118.4262   
235Plover, White-frontedCharadrius marginatus457.20164 125 
102Pochard, SouthernNetta erythrophthalma11.001   
258Sandpiper, CommonActitis hypoleucos13.3610  
251Sandpiper, CurlewCalidris ferruginea7558.001666  
262Sandpiper, MarshTringa stagnatilis111.5059   
264Sandpiper, WoodTringa glareola13.8312   
90Shelduck, South AfricanTadorna cana14180.16678420210500
94Shoveler, CapeSpatula smithii29165.63373350175350
85Spoonbill, AfricanPlatalea alba735.84124 75 
270Stilt, Black-wingedHimantopus himantopus130.1273   
253Stint, LittleCalidris minuta1353.051165   
208Swamphen, AfricanPorphyrio madagascariensis12.004  
98Teal, CapeAnas capensis7200.88470   
97Teal, Red-billedAnas erythrorhyncha252.92186   
290Tern, CaspianHydroprogne caspia123.681651356820
291Tern, CommonSterna hirundo1502.904507 40001800
300Tern, DamaraSternula balaenarum121.2358   
298Tern, Greater CrestedThalasseus bergii1100.13566500250200
299Tern, LittleSternula albifrons11.001   
296Tern, SandwichThalasseus sandvicensis299.00602   
10009Tern, UnidentifiedN/A N/A3341.831500
304Tern, White-wingedChlidonias leucopterus310.0017   
274Thick-knee, WaterBurhinus vermiculatus11.001   
232Turnstone, RuddyArenaria interpres113.6449   
10008Wader, UnidentifiedN/A N/A1162.37778
685Wagtail, African PiedMotacilla aguimp13.6713
686Wagtail, CapeMotacilla capensis1770.00138
FITZ logo Ramsar Wetlands International http://www.sanbi.org/

Saturday 02 December 2023 07:34
FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology
Department of Biological Sciences - University of Cape Town

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