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The Eskom Red Data Book of Birds of South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland

Keith N. Barnes (editor)

BirdLife South Africa, Randburg, 2000.
Price approx. R100-00
(order direct at +27 11 789-1122 or info@birdlife.org.za)
ISBN: 0-620-25499-8
A4 paperback, 169 pages

It is now some 15 years since the first Red Data book of South African birds was published (edited by Richard Brooke) and this update is long overdue. The identification of animal and plant species whose existence is threatened is a key element in terms of defining priorities for conservation and Red Data books are compiled and used for lobbying and planning in many parts of the world.

Thanks to the abundance and energy of ornithologists and amateur birdwatchers in South Africa, the avifauna of the region is well known and this new millennium update is more comprehensive and objective than its predecessor. Of course, there have been many changes to the landscape - geographical and political - since 1984, and this has influenced the status of many bird species.

The introductory section of the book examines the criteria used for determining whether a species should be included in one of ten categories as laid down by the I.U.C.N (World Conservation Union), and summarises the importance of undisturbed habitats for conservation. Although the book is very definitely about species, it is made very clear that it is the habitat which must be protected if those species are to survive.

The most important threats to natural habitats, and therefore to biodiversity and the threatened species listed in this book, are afforestation, wetland drainage, and impact of livestock and agriculture. Other identified threats to birds in South Africa are poisoning, disturbance, oiling, direct persecution and, in the case of sea-going albatrosses, long-lining.

And so to the birds themselves. Two species - the Egyptian Vulture and African Skimmer - are classified as "regionally extinct". The former is occasionally recorded as a straggler, but was last known to breed locally in 1923, in the former Transkei. Both are reasonably numerous elsewhere in Africa.

The second category is "critically endangered" and five species qualify. The Blue Swallow, Rudd's Lark, Wattled Crane, Bittern and White-winged Flufftail are all dependent upon temperate grasslands and/or associated wetlands and are most at risk due to afforestation by timber companies.

This reviewer finds it ironic and distasteful that South Africa's largest timber company has through strategic public relations become associated with the conservation of birds when it does, in fact, pose the single biggest threat to the survival of our most endangered species!

The next category is "endangered" and here we have another three species associated with temperate grasslands, as well as five marine species. The Saddle-billed Stork is also placed here, with less than 150 individuals thought to survive in the Lowveld and northern Zululand.

The Cape Parrot of the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal temperate forests is down to fewer than 500 birds and given the existing threat of viral infection, I was surprised that it did not appear in the "critically endangered" category. A further 43 species are listed as "threatened" and 64 as "near threatened."

Of the total of 124 featured species, it is interesting to note that 23 are birds of prey, 30 are marine or coastal, and 26 are associated with freshwater habitats. This is an immensely valuable work and the editor, contributors and publishers are to be congratulated for their efforts.

Would it be too much to hope for, that the decline of these threatened birds might be halted, or at least slowed down, by responsible land use and effective legislation, before the next edition appears in 15 years time? The birds and the problems have been identified, now is the time to take remedial action!

An essential addition to the library of anyone interested in African birds. Get your copy directly from BirdLife South Africa (see above).

Posted: Birds by CC Africa, Date: 22 November 2006