CWAC | Coordinated Waterbird Counts

Home
About us
Contact us
Aims & Protocol
BIRDIE
Docs & Forms
Sites - List
Species - List

De Mond Estuary (34432007)
Western Cape
CWAC status	REGISTERED-COUNTED REGULARLY
Authority	Cape Nature
Management status	PROVINCIAL GAME/NATURE RESERVE
Conservation status	PROTECTED
IBA information	SA121 - HEUNINGNES RIVER & ESTUARY SYSTEM
Ramsar information	ZA003 - De Mond Estuary
Heritage information
View Cards	Click here

Information
Date_registered
1993-07-19
Brief_description
Ramsar site and IBA. The De Mond State Forest/Heuningnes River Estuary is one of the few breeding sites for the globally near-threatened Damara Tern (total population c. 14450 birds): 5-7 breeding pairs of this African endemic species are recorded. Heuningnes is the most southerly estuary in Africa. Its dune areas and pebble slacks are important nesting sites for birds; it also has breeding African Black Oystercatchers, Caspian Terns and Kelp Gulls. Biomass and total count graphs reflect large numbers of small shorebirds in summer and smaller numbers of large birds in winter. Critical threats include oil pollution and dam building; it is also threatened by human encroachment and chemical pollution.

Spp	Common name	Taxonomic name	Min	Avg	Max	IBA	Subregional IBA	RAMSAR
255		Calidris alba	1	39.91	210
896		Calidris alpina	1	1.00	1
269	Avocet, Pied	Recurvirostra avosetta	3	3.00	3
212	Coot, Red-knobbed	Fulica cristata	5	75.50	146
49	Cormorant, Bank	Phalacrocorax neglectus	4	4.00	4
48	Cormorant, Cape	Phalacrocorax capensis	1	24.58	405
51	Cormorant, Crowned	Microcarbo coronatus	1	11.38	50		26
50	Cormorant, Reed	Microcarbo africanus	2	15.79	44
47	Cormorant, White-breasted	Phalacrocorax lucidus	1	23.11	133			130
216	Crane, Blue	Grus paradisea	6	6.67	8
267	Curlew, Eurasian	Numenius arquata	1	4.83	13
52	Darter, African	Anhinga rufa	1	3.27	11
91	Duck, Knob-billed	Sarkidiornis melanotos	11	11.00	11
10014	Duck, Unidentified	Anas sp.	1	1.00	1
96	Duck, Yellow-billed	Anas undulata	1	8.45	43
58	Egret, Great	Ardea alba	1	1.75	4
59	Egret, Little	Egretta garzetta	1	3.53	13
61	Egret, Western Cattle	Bubulcus ibis	2	5.33	7
149	Fish Eagle, African	Haliaeetus vocifer	1	2.00	4
86	Flamingo, Greater	Phoenicopterus roseus	1	24.07	130
87	Flamingo, Lesser	Phoeniconaias minor	1	3.00	5
44	Gannet, Cape	Morus capensis	2	4.50	6
266	Godwit, Bar-tailed	Limosa lapponica	1	3.75	16
89	Goose, Egyptian	Alopochen aegyptiaca	2	5.42	13
88	Goose, Spur-winged	Plectropterus gambensis	2	8.67	22
4	Grebe, Great Crested	Podiceps cristatus	4	4.00	4
6	Grebe, Little	Tachybaptus ruficollis	2	8.00	15
263	Greenshank, Common	Tringa nebularia	1	6.61	24
288	Gull, Grey-headed	Chroicocephalus cirrocephalus	1	3.10	6
289	Gull, Hartlaub's	Chroicocephalus hartlaubii	1	1.50	2
287	Gull, Kelp	Larus dominicanus	2	31.95	124
167	Harrier, African Marsh	Circus ranivorus	1	1.00	1
169	Harrier, Black	Circus maurus	1	1.71	4
170	Harrier, Montagu's	Circus pygargus	1	1.00	1
64	Heron, Black	Egretta ardesiaca	1	1.50	2
55	Heron, Black-headed	Ardea melanocephala	1	1.63	5
54	Heron, Grey	Ardea cinerea	1	2.26	7
57	Heron, Purple	Ardea purpurea	1	1.50	2
81	Ibis, African Sacred	Threskiornis aethiopicus	1	5.05	21
83	Ibis, Glossy	Plegadis falcinellus	3	3.00	3
84	Ibis, Hadada	Bostrychia hagedash	1	3.20	7
229	Jacana, Lesser	Microparra capensis	1	1.00	1
395	Kingfisher, Giant	Megaceryle maxima	1	2.22	4
397	Kingfisher, Malachite	Corythornis cristatus	1	1.33	2
394	Kingfisher, Pied	Ceryle rudis	1	2.84	9
254	Knot, Red	Calidris canutus	6	28.00	70
245	Lapwing, Blacksmith	Vanellus armatus	1	7.63	33
509	Martin, Brown-throated	Riparia paludicola	1	1.00	1
69	Night Heron, Black-crowned	Nycticorax nycticorax	1	3.50	5
172	Osprey, Western	Pandion haliaetus	1	1.00	1
231	Oystercatcher, African	Haematopus moquini	1	5.73	44		24
42	Pelican, Great White	Pelecanus onocrotalus	1	28.50	100
2	Penguin, African	Spheniscus demersus	1	1.00	1
922	Plover, American Golden	Pluvialis dominica	1	1.00	1
240	Plover, Caspian	Charadrius asiaticus	1	5.00	9
236	Plover, Chestnut-banded	Charadrius pallidus	3	31.00	68
233	Plover, Common Ringed	Charadrius hiaticula	2	66.76	382
239	Plover, Greater Sand	Charadrius leschenaultii	1	1.00	1
241	Plover, Grey	Pluvialis squatarola	2	22.26	84
237	Plover, Kittlitz's	Charadrius pecuarius	2	20.09	62
234	Plover, Siberian Sand	Charadrius mongolus	3	3.00	3
238	Plover, Three-banded	Charadrius tricollaris	2	5.33	10
235	Plover, White-fronted	Charadrius marginatus	1	21.96	107
981	Sandpiper, Broad-billed	Calidris falcinellus	1	1.00	1
258	Sandpiper, Common	Actitis hypoleucos	1	5.77	31
251	Sandpiper, Curlew	Calidris ferruginea	1	114.89	596
262	Sandpiper, Marsh	Tringa stagnatilis	1	1.40	2
257	Sandpiper, Terek	Xenus cinereus	1	4.83	19
90	Shelduck, South African	Tadorna cana	2	6.50	11
94	Shoveler, Cape	Anas smithii	3	13.75	24
250	Snipe, African	Gallinago nigripennis	3	3.00	3
85	Spoonbill, African	Platalea alba	1	4.18	11
270	Stilt, Black-winged	Himantopus himantopus	2	2.00	2
253	Stint, Little	Calidris minuta	2	101.27	291
985	Stint, Temminck's	Calidris temminckii	1	1.00	1
80	Stork, White	Ciconia ciconia	5	5.00	5			1
98	Teal, Cape	Anas capensis	2	5.50	14
97	Teal, Red-billed	Anas erythrorhyncha	1	4.00	7
294	Tern, Arctic	Sterna paradisaea	2	48.00	109
290	Tern, Caspian	Hydroprogne caspia	1	5.63	25			20
291	Tern, Common	Sterna hirundo	1	288.65	4152		4000	1800
300	Tern, Damara	Sternula balaenarum	1	4.53	11
298	Tern, Greater Crested	Thalasseus bergii	0	326.81	6000	500	250	200
299	Tern, Little	Sternula albifrons	1	13.00	60
296	Tern, Sandwich	Thalasseus sandvicensis	2	77.18	600
10009	Tern, Unidentified	N/A N/A	2	11.33	24
305	Tern, Whiskered	Chlidonias hybrida	4	4.00	4
304	Tern, White-winged	Chlidonias leucopterus	2	2.00	2
274	Thick-knee, Water	Burhinus vermiculatus	1	5.15	17
232	Turnstone, Ruddy	Arenaria interpres	2	5.73	16
10008	Wader, Unidentified	N/A N/A	2	35.33	97
686	Wagtail, Cape	Motacilla capensis	1	4.67	21
268	Whimbrel, Eurasian	Numenius phaeopus	1	6.57	23

Friday 31 July 2026 06:15
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

This website uses cookies to track and manage data. By using the Service, you consent to the use of cookies.

What are cookies

When you visit any web site, it may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. This information might be about you, your preferences or your device and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to. The information does not usually directly identify you, but it can give you a more personalised web experience.

Email:	CS/ADU no:	Password:
			Forgot/Reset password

De Mond Estuary (34432007)

Western Cape

Information