Blue swallow faces extinction

2006-02-02 10:08

Fred Katerere

Nelspruit - A census of South Africa's critically endangered blue swallow has found only 131 birds in the country.

The census was held in November last year and indicates a drop from 134 birds in 2004, said manager for the Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT) Blue Swallow Working Group, Mandy McNamara.

"We are concerned with the figures we are getting in the counts," she said.

She said the census was conducted in Mpumalanga, Limpopo and KwaZulu-Natal. No birds were found in Limpopo at all.

The figure is still higher than the 2003 count, however, when only 94 birds were found.

The blue swallow faces extinction as its breeding grounds are destroyed by forestry and other disturbances.

The blue swallow is a migratory bird restricted to Africa and is found in the moist grasslands of KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga and Limpopo between September and April each year.

There are only 89 known nests remaining in South Africa and Swaziland.

Blue swallow population vulnerable

In the 2005 census in South Africa, 34 blue swallows were counted in Mpumalanga on nine of 19 properties visited. The birds were found mainly around the Kaapsehoop, Graskop and Sabie areas.

In KwaZulu-Natal, 97 blue swallows were counted on 16 of the 25 properties visited. They were found mainly in the Boston, Richmond, Donnybrook, Ixopo, Highflats and Harding areas.

In Limpopo, no blue swallows have been seen in the Haenertsburg area in either the 2004 and 2005 counts.

The World Conservation Union (IUCN) classifies the global blue swallow population as vulnerable, with only 1 500 pairs on record.

Stakeholders in the EWT Blue Swallow Working Group include farmers, local communities, farmers, private land-owners, land-managers, the mining industry, commercial forestry, provincial conservation authorities, national conservation authorities, provincial and national government departments, interested individuals and volunteers.

- African Eye