Zandvlei: Lower Estuary (34071828) | |
|---|---|
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 |
| 2001-01-20 |
| 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. This site covers the major part of the estuary from the Sea Scout base southwards to the mouth. |
| Spp | Common name | Taxonomic name | Min | Avg | Max | IBA | Subregional IBA | RAMSAR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1016 | Anas platyrhynchos | 1 | 13.00 | 201 | ||||
| 4150 | Albatross, Shy | Thalassarche cauta | 2 | 2.00 | 2 | |||
| 269 | Avocet, Pied | Recurvirostra avosetta | 1 | 15.33 | 60 | |||
| 67 | Bittern, Little | Ixobrychus minutus | 1 | 1.00 | 1 | |||
| 212 | Coot, Red-knobbed | Fulica cristata | 1 | 365.16 | 2074 | |||
| 48 | Cormorant, Cape | Phalacrocorax capensis | 1 | 30.03 | 282 | |||
| 51 | Cormorant, Crowned | Microcarbo coronatus | 1 | 1.00 | 1 | |||
| 50 | Cormorant, Reed | Microcarbo africanus | 1 | 54.20 | 463 | |||
| 47 | Cormorant, White-breasted | Phalacrocorax lucidus | 1 | 11.75 | 88 | |||
| 52 | Darter, African | Anhinga rufa | 1 | 21.01 | 115 | |||
| 95 | Duck, African Black | Anas sparsa | 1 | 1.00 | 1 | |||
| 10006 | Duck, Domestic | Anas platyrhynchos domesticus | 1 | 7.24 | 61 | |||
| 10005 | Duck, Hybrid | Anas hybrid | 2 | 10.78 | 30 | |||
| 10034 | Duck, Hyrbid Mallard/Yellow-billed | Anas platyrhynchos x undulata | 1 | 10.58 | 43 | |||
| 10014 | Duck, Unidentified | Anas sp. | 1 | 14.50 | 28 | |||
| 104 | Duck, White-backed | Thalassornis leuconotus | 1 | 33.00 | 73 | |||
| 100 | Duck, White-faced Whistling | Dendrocygna viduata | 2 | 2.00 | 2 | |||
| 96 | Duck, Yellow-billed | Anas undulata | 1 | 15.00 | 51 | |||
| 60 | Egret, Intermediate [x] | Ardea intermedia | 1 | 3.09 | 11 | |||
| 59 | Egret, Little | Egretta garzetta | 1 | 8.00 | 80 | |||
| 61 | Egret, Western Cattle | Ardea ibis | 1 | 4.03 | 27 | |||
| 149 | Fish Eagle, African | Haliaeetus vocifer | 1 | 1.50 | 2 | |||
| 86 | Flamingo, Greater | Phoenicopterus roseus | 1 | 54.08 | 224 | |||
| 87 | Flamingo, Lesser | Phoeniconaias minor | 1 | 6.67 | 15 | |||
| 44 | Gannet, Cape | Morus capensis | 1 | 1.00 | 1 | |||
| 10004 | Goose, Domestic | Anser anser domesticus | 1 | 1.50 | 2 | |||
| 89 | Goose, Egyptian | Alopochen aegyptiaca | 2 | 204.74 | 1121 | |||
| 88 | Goose, Spur-winged | Plectropterus gambensis | 1 | 8.64 | 48 | |||
| 5 | Grebe, Black-necked | Podiceps nigricollis | 2 | 2.00 | 2 | |||
| 4 | Grebe, Great Crested | Podiceps cristatus | 1 | 10.38 | 43 | 25 | ||
| 6 | Grebe, Little | Tachybaptus ruficollis | 1 | 12.58 | 99 | |||
| 263 | Greenshank, Common | Tringa nebularia | 1 | 1.00 | 1 | |||
| 288 | Gull, Grey-headed | Chroicocephalus cirrocephalus | 1 | 5.69 | 89 | |||
| 289 | Gull, Hartlaub's | Chroicocephalus hartlaubii | 3 | 87.74 | 601 | 250 | 125 | 300 |
| 287 | Gull, Kelp | Larus dominicanus | 2 | 41.17 | 371 | 300 | 150 | |
| 10010 | Gull, Unidentified | Lanus sp. | 1 | 1.00 | 1 | |||
| 167 | Harrier, African Marsh | Circus ranivorus | 1 | 1.00 | 1 | |||
| 55 | Heron, Black-headed | Ardea melanocephala | 1 | 1.71 | 9 | |||
| 54 | Heron, Grey | Ardea cinerea | 1 | 3.63 | 40 | |||
| 57 | Heron, Purple | Ardea purpurea | 1 | 1.33 | 5 | |||
| 63 | Heron, Striated (NOTE: use Little Heron) | Butorides striata | 1 | 1.00 | 1 | |||
| 81 | Ibis, African Sacred | Threskiornis aethiopicus | 1 | 7.47 | 57 | |||
| 83 | Ibis, Glossy | Plegadis falcinellus | 1 | 1.70 | 5 | |||
| 84 | Ibis, Hadada | Bostrychia hagedash | 1 | 7.63 | 26 | |||
| 395 | Kingfisher, Giant | Megaceryle maxima | 1 | 7.20 | 32 | |||
| 397 | Kingfisher, Malachite | Corythornis cristatus | 1 | 1.44 | 4 | |||
| 394 | Kingfisher, Pied | Ceryle rudis | 1 | 5.33 | 20 | |||
| 245 | Lapwing, Blacksmith | Vanellus armatus | 1 | 14.59 | 65 | |||
| 10015 | Mallard, Hybrid | Anas hybrid | 1 | 44.15 | 207 | |||
| 210 | Moorhen, Common | Gallinula chloropus | 1 | 5.74 | 67 | |||
| 69 | Night Heron, Black-crowned | Nycticorax nycticorax | 1 | 3.07 | 12 | |||
| 42 | Pelican, Great White | Pelecanus onocrotalus | 1 | 6.91 | 33 | |||
| 241 | Plover, Grey | Anarhynchus squatarola | 2 | 2.00 | 2 | |||
| 237 | Plover, Kittlitz's | Anarhynchus pecuarius | 1 | 1.00 | 1 | |||
| 238 | Plover, Three-banded | Anarhynchus tricollaris | 1 | 1.30 | 2 | |||
| 235 | Plover, White-fronted | Anarhynchus marginatus | 94 | 94.00 | 94 | |||
| 102 | Pochard, Southern | Netta erythrophthalma | 1 | 1.00 | 1 | |||
| 258 | Sandpiper, Common | Actitis hypoleucos | 1 | 1.33 | 2 | |||
| 262 | Sandpiper, Marsh | Tringa stagnatilis | 53 | 53.00 | 53 | |||
| 90 | Shelduck, South African | Tadorna cana | 3 | 8.00 | 13 | |||
| 94 | Shoveler, Cape | Anas smithii | 1 | 6.16 | 35 | |||
| 85 | Spoonbill, African | Platalea alba | 1 | 4.41 | 31 | |||
| 270 | Stilt, Black-winged | Himantopus himantopus | 1 | 7.67 | 32 | |||
| 208 | Swamphen, African | Porphyrio madagascariensis | 2 | 2.00 | 2 | |||
| 10007 | Swan, Black | Cygnus atratus | 1 | 1.00 | 1 | |||
| 99 | Teal, Blue-billed | Anas hottentota | 4 | 4.00 | 4 | |||
| 98 | Teal, Cape | Anas capensis | 1 | 3.33 | 16 | |||
| 1274 | Teal, Green-winged | Anas carolinensis | 10 | 10.00 | 10 | |||
| 97 | Teal, Red-billed | Anas erythrorhyncha | 2 | 2.00 | 2 | |||
| 290 | Tern, Caspian | Hydroprogne caspia | 1 | 4.86 | 21 | 20 | ||
| 291 | Tern, Common | Sterna hirundo | 1 | 6.79 | 53 | |||
| 298 | Tern, Greater Crested | Thalasseus bergii | 1 | 6.07 | 52 | |||
| 935 | Tern, Royal | Thalasseus maximus | 2 | 2.00 | 2 | |||
| 296 | Tern, Sandwich | Thalasseus sandvicensis | 1 | 5.50 | 15 | |||
| 10009 | Tern, Unidentified | N/A N/A | 2 | 3.00 | 4 | |||
| 305 | Tern, Whiskered | Chlidonias hybrida | 1 | 1.80 | 2 | |||
| 304 | Tern, White-winged | Chlidonias leucopterus | 5 | 5.00 | 5 | |||
| 274 | Thick-knee, Water | Burhinus vermiculatus | 1 | 3.85 | 12 | |||
| 10008 | Wader, Unidentified | N/A N/A | 3 | 3.00 | 3 | |||
| 686 | Wagtail, Cape | Motacilla capensis | 1 | 5.99 | 23 |
Friday 23 October 2026 09:57
FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology
Department
of Biological Sciences - University of Cape Town
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