The Cape Bird Club
Marabou Storks invade the Western Cape by Otto Schmidt
photograph by Jan Hofmeyr
Marabou Storks at Vissershok.
In the Atlas of the Birds of the Southwestern Cape (1989) only one record of a Marabou Stork is mentioned for the area surveyed during the 5 -year atlasing period in the early 1980s. A single bird is also recorded which spent some time near Stellenbosch in 1977. A < 2% recording rate is given for the data collection period (mainly 1987 – 91) covered in The Atlas of Southern African Birds, Vol.1; 1997.
These records show that this species is an uncommon visitor to the Western Cape, and particularly to the area around Cape Town. It was therefore most unusual to find birders recording them regularly, sometimes in quite large numbers, during the first two months of 2009. The following is a chronological summary of sightings gleaned from postings on Cape Birdnet, and in some instances via verbal communication. I’m sure that there have been others, and my apologies for those that I was not aware of.
On 1 January 2009, in the afternoon, Basil Boer spotted a group of four Marabous circling over his house in Somerset West. One day later, on 2 January, Anton Odendal recorded seeing, and photographing, a single Marabou amongst a large group of White Storks at the Karwyderskraal landfill site near Hermanus. On the same day, Sharon and Fred Kersten from Johannesburg found a bird on the Yzerfontein/Darling road.
Two days later (4 January), some distance away but still in the Western Cape, Japie Claassen announced that no less than 13 Marabou Storks had arrived at the Beaufort West sewage works. He also mentioned that there had been two in the area in late November 2008, but that these had disappeared some time before.
On 7 January, Jan Hofmeyr photographed a group of 10 - 12 Marabous at the Vissershok landfill site, and Sandy and Otto Schmidt found 18 of these birds with a large group of White Storks at this site on 10 January. Japie Claassen was contacted, and he confirmed that “his” 13 birds were still at Beaufort West on the 11th. 18 birds were again recorded at Vissershok by Jan Hofmeyr and John Fincham on 15 January. Although access to this site was then restricted to birders, smaller numbers were subsequently reported from there with Felicity Grundlingh sighting three on the 20th and Anne Gray finding eight on the 25th.
Charlotte Struyf reported seeing a single Marabou Stork at the southern end of Clanwilliam dam on 15 January and Morne Carstens found a sub-adult bird on the farm Groot Oliphantskop near Melkbosstrand on 19 January.
photograph by Otto Schmidt
Marabou and White Stork in attenence with Sacred Ibis.
There was a slight lull in reports in late January/early February, until John Bowman from Hermanus reported that eight birds were present at the Karwyderskraal site on 8 February. He mentioned that two had been present there for the previous few weeks. Marje and Jon Hemp also saw eight birds near this site on 15 February, and there was a report of up to 11 birds being present there. Jan Hofmeyr reported two birds at the pig farm just off the N1 near the Stellenbosch off-ramp on about 10 February, and Harold Bloch reported two birds on the R312 road from Klipheuwel to Windmeul, also on 10 February.
Joye Newby saw 15 birds at the Engen One-stop Garage on the N7 (just past the Melkbos turnoff going north) on the 13th. She returned to this spot on the early evening of the 14th, and saw 30 Marabous circling around. The birds flew over the road, landed in a field and started walking as a group at pace. They came to a fence and flew over it, then walked on and flew over another fence. This was repeated several times and she guessed that they were looking for a place to roost. On Sunday morning, 15 February, at about 9am a large group of Marabou Storks took off from this area, caught the thermals and disappeared.
Japie Claassen reported that five birds were still present at the Beaufort West sewage works on 21 February. He mentioned that the total number seen there had been up to 20 birds at one point.
Apart from an unconfirmed sighting relayed by Les Underhill of a small group of birds seen on the farm Tussenweide close to the N2 near Caledon on 26 February, I am not aware of any further reports, and possibly the birds are heading back north (or else birders have become involved with other rarities and are no longer reporting Marabous). There appears to have been no obvious reason for their appearance, in notable numbers, 1000 or more kilometres south of their normal range. The food supplies they were mostly utilising were not of a short-term nature, making this an unlikely reason for their arrival.
Their foray into our area is certainly a phenomenon worthy of documentation, apart from it giving a number of Western Cape birders the opportunity to add this species to their regional lists.
