The Cape Bird Club

African Openbills in the Western Cape by Otto Schmidt.

The last two summers have produced a spate of records of individual species which are seen very infrequently in the Western Cape, so one was half expecting another “rarity” to turn up. Numerous Marabou Storks were around last summer and European Rollers appeared in many localities the summer before. Very few birders would however have expected this summer’s surprise to be the African Openbill, a stork found well to our north in tropical and sub-tropical regions and normally associated with wetlands, swamps, rice paddies, lake edges and large perennial rivers, i.e. in areas such as the Okavango Delta across to northern KZN. Here it feeds predominantly on fresh water snails and mussels which it skilfully extracts from their protective shells with its highly specialized bill. Even more amazing was the numbers of birds which arrived in and around Cape Town (as well as in many other spots in the Western Cape and farther afield) and also the length of time they stayed.

The reason for this irruption into areas well outside their normal range has been widely speculated. The theory which perhaps comes closest is that an excellent breeding season in the Caprivi and surrounding areas led to an overpopulation and subsequent wide dispersal, possibly due to pressure on available food supplies. The background information giving rise to this theory comes from Chris Brown, Executive Director of the Namibia Nature Foundation who wrote:“An aerial survey of the wetlands of the Caprivi region (lower section of the Okavango River in Namibia, and the Kwando-Linyanti-Chobe-Zambezi system in Namibia) in September this year (2009) revealed approximately 2,000 nesting African Openbills in Lake Liambezi and a nesting site of about 2,500 African Openbills on the Chobe/Zambezi floodplains. (In 2009, the Zambezi River reached its highest level since 1969, inundating most of eastern Caprivi. More than 55,000 people were displaced and 100 people lost their lives. For the first time in 30 years the Okavango Delta is connected to the Kwando-Linyanti and Chobe-Zambezi rivers via the Selinda Spillway. The Savuti River is flowing for the first time since 1983. In early October the water was 8 km east of the Chobe National Park cut-line (the water was - 20 km from reaching the Savuti Marsh).

Pete Hancock, BirdLife Botswana, responded: This observation is of interest since Lake Liambezi is on the border with Botswana, and also because these are probably the largest breeding colonies for this species in Southern Africa (they exceed the largest site in the Okavango Delta, even though they may only be temporary nesting sites.

The first recorded incursion of Openbills into the Western Cape I’m aware of was reported by Japie Claassen, who on 17 December 2009 saw a single bird on a farm in the Nuweveld mountains about 60 km north of Beaufort West.

photograph by Gavin Lawson

The departing Openbills from farm near Riebeek West.

photograph by Gavin Lawson

Searching the flower beds for snails.

By Christmas 2009 they were nearing the Cape Peninsula, with a report of a bird at the Arabella golf estate near Kleinmond. This bird was seen by Johan Nieuwoudt walking the Arabella streets on Christmas Day.
The largest concentration seen in the Western Cape was on the farm de Langekloof, 10 kilometers north of Riebeek West on the Gouda Road, where Gavin Lawson reported 47 birds overnighting on the road verge, a small dam and vineyards on 27 December. At 09h00 the following morning they took off, spiralled upwards and disappeared in the direction of Voëlvlei Dam. At midday eleven returned and on 30 December, the eight remaining storks were seen clearing the flower beds outside the kitchen window, removing an estimated 80+ snails.

photograph by Gavin Lawson

A few of the many snail shells left after the feast.

photograph by Gavin Lawson

Standing around in the midday sun, it was near 40 degrees C.

Mike Buckham spotted one bird over the beach at Plettenberg Bay on 28 December, and on 29 December Les Underhill reported a bird at Bass Lake in Betty’s Bay which was seen to arrive from the direction of Arabella. Also on 29 December, Dawn Evered and her husband saw one bird in a gum tree alongside the Breede River at Bonnievale.

At about this time the first birds were spotted on the Cape Peninsula, with Mike Buckham being informed of one seen on 28 December on Dreyersdal Farm adjacent to the M3 between Constantia and Westlake. This bird was “hunted” by numerous birders, and on 4 January 2010, Simon Fogarty reported that he and Mel Tripp had found two birds in the same area. These two Openbills continued to attract the attention of Peninsula birders, becoming an “over-flying garden tick” for John Graham on 24 January. On 26 January, Wendy Madsen saw two birds in an oak tree at Die Oog in Bergvliet and it appeared that the two birds feeding around Dreyersdal Farm were roosting at Die Oog. On the evening of 31 January, Sandy and I met Felicity Ellmore at Die Oog and whilst watching one Openbill in the tree on the island, three more flew in. On 1 February Jessie Blackshaw reported that the number roosting there had now grown to 5 birds, with one arriving substantially earlier in the evening than the others. She reported the same number still present on 17 February and on 6 March Felicity Ellmore confirmed that the five birds were still there. They were now feeding in the gardens of the residents around Die Oog (“'We had one chomping the snails here yesterday morning. How he managed to extract the meat without breaking the shells is amazing “). A further report from Die Oog was of two birds seen by Eric Barnes on 9 March, and the most recent sighting before closing off this article was six birds spotted leaving the roost early on the morning of 24 March.

Whilst a lot of attention was focused on Die Oog, other areas were also producing sightings. Six birds were seen on the morning of 3 January on the farm of Andre du Toit in Grabouw, and 18 birds at Beaulieu (Elgin Vintners) were reported by Rob Martin on the same day, eating mainly snails on the edge of the apple orchard. Seven (or eight) of these were again present the following morning, eating snails on the owner’s lawn. A single bird was reported by Sally Adam from Little Stone Cottage near Mossel Bay on 3 January. Around midday on 5 January, I was in the Philippi Wetlands with three overseas birders where we spotted a single Openbill at one of the vleis.

Sue Jackson of the Botany and Zoology Department of the University of Stellenbosch saw and photographed an African Openbill looking very lost and forlorn in the Shelley Point development in St Helena Bay just east of Paternoster on 8 January. This constituted the most westerly record at that time. On the same day, Mary Allan from Plettenberg Bay reported seeing one on a local bowling green.

On 11 January Mariana Delport had one reported from the farm Rooiheuwel near Bot River town, and the following day (12 January) Wilfred Chivell reported no less than 20 Openbills in Gansbaai, southeast of Hermanus.

photograph by Gavin Lawson

At midday on 18 January Simon and Stella Fogarty saw a single bird in a field on the right hand side of the R27 on the way to Velddrif, about five kilometers past the Langebaan turn off. This bird may have been heading north to the Berg River, as John Fannin from Port Owen (near Velddrif on the West Coast) was informed of one bird being seen on 18 January and saw two the next day. Eric Barnes reported one of these birds still to be present on 14 March. Robyn Kadis, Chairperson of BirdLife Berg River, and Donella Young were thrilled to see two Openbills on a small farm dam near Koppies, between Villiersdorp and Robertson, while doing their CAR count on 30 January.

February 2010 started with a number of sightings from “new” localities. Pat Merrett, a former CBC member now living in the UK but staying in Fish Hoek on holiday observed one bird at the lower end of the Silvermine Wetland in Fish Hoek about mid-morning on 3 February. Gerald Wingate reported that Jack Swart had seen four birds at Pond 4 in Intaka Island at Century City. On 5 February a single bird flew over Jill Mortimer’s house in Somerset West, and Rob Martin reported six flying over Mardale farm near Grabouw. On 8 February John Fincham noted two birds at the Wellington Sewage Works. Margaret Kiely had one on Groenvlei on the same day, possibly the same bird recorded in Sedgefield previously. Another sighting at about the same time was a single bird from a park alongside the R44 at The Strand. John Coates reported one bird from Buffelsjags on the Malgas Road on 17 February.

On 21 February, Barry and Margie Hawthorne also added a new “garden bird” to their list, with two Openbills seen in a garden in Strawberry lane, Constantia.

photograph by Otto Schmidt

Openbills at Strandfontein.

With the focus back on the Cape Peninsula, Helen Fenwick reported three birds in the open field opposite Zeekoevlei just before rounding the bend towards the entrance to the Strandfontein Waste Water Treatment Works on 15 February. Simon Fogarty noted seven birds circling above the south west corner of Zeekoevlei at 13h00 hrs on 24 February, and at about 10am on 25 February, Margaret Maciver saw eight birds in a similar spot to where Helen Fenwick had seen these 10 days earlier. This group was still present when I passed there at 15h30 on that day, and seven were still at the same spot at 17h45. The group of seven or eight birds was still seen around Strandfontein on 5/6 March by Adam Welz. On 6 March Helen Fenwick spotted 3 birds in the Works and Graham Pringle noted one sitting on the man-made nesting structure at the sewerage works on 9 March. On 19 March Anton Putter reported three birds still present near the entrance to Strandfontein.

photograph by Rosemary Barson

Rosemary Barson photographed this one at Zandvlei in January. 

Slightly farther afield, Rob Martin and Jessie Walton saw a group of 5 Openbills flying over her farm at Elgin on 10 March. Jessie had also seen a larger group flying overhead at Elgin Vintners a few days before that.

By late in March the numbers seem to have dwindled (implying that many of the birds had left), or have birders simply stopped reporting them, despite being asked to keep the records coming in? With the Die Oog birds still in evidence on 24 March and the reported number having grown to six, the latter seems very likely. However, time will tell!!

This report has focused on the irruption into the Western Cape, but Openbills have also turned up in numerous other places, sometimes in considerable numbers. They were first reported in the Eastern Cape in Addo in December 2009, and on 24 January a dozen birds were present in Port Elizabeth with eight at Barkly East around 30 January. Chris and Valda Barratt saw four near Oesterbaai during their CAR count on 30 January and eleven near St Francis Bay. Ken and Gertie Griffiths saw three birds near Macleantown while doing their CAR route on the same day. Eleven birds were at Jeffery’s Bay on 15 February with single birds around East London. No less than 30 birds were near the mouth of the Kromme River on 15 February. There had been no previous Openbill records for the Eastern Cape.
In KZN, the numbers were impressive. Donella Young of the ADU was informed by a farmer in the Geluksberg area, near Ladysmith, that between 130-140 Openbills were present for about four days before Christmas until the New Year. There were 44 birds in the Creighton Valley around 25 January and at least 40 birds were present at the lagoon in Mtunzini on 8 February with smaller numbers scattered throughout the village. Numerous other records from KZN included a very confused looking bird in the parking lot of the Gateway Shopping Centre in Durban on 22 February. North West Province had at least 7 birds soaring over the casino at Klerksdorp around 15 February, and sightings have also come in from the Free State and Gauteng. Even central Namibia has had its birds, with two reported at the Gammans Sewage Works in Windhoek on 15 February and one at Avis Dam on 7 March.

The above information has been put together using mainly sightings submitted to Cape Birdnet, recent summaries from Trevor Hardaker’s SA Rare Birds News and input from Donella Young of the ADU based on CAR count submissions. There are thus no doubt many omissions, and I apologise for not mentioning other observers who have similarly reported Openbills during the period late December to mid-March. It will be interesting to see whether a follow-up report will be needed, or whether these very unexpected visitors to our area and other locations farther north and east have “set up home” here or have left as suddenly as they appeared.