The Cape Bird Club

African Snipe and other breeding records
By Doug Harebottle and Marius Wheeler (Avian Demography Unit)

photograph by Doug Harebottle

The first African Snipe nest found at Edith Stephens.

On 30 August 2004, we found two African (Ethiopian) Snipe (286) nests in the seasonal vlei at Edith Stephens Wetland Park on the Cape Flats. The nests were found during a routine monthly CWAC count at the site when the incubating birds were flushed. Both nests contained two eggs. They were situated approximately 15 metres apart in a patch of wet grass and were built at the base of a tuft of Couch Grass (Cynodon dactylon).

We were excited about finding these nests as we have always suspected that the snipes use the vlei for breeding, but no nests were found during 2002 and 2003. In addition, snipe nests are rarely found as they are often located in flooded vleis or marshes, habitats that seem to be avoided by birders. This find is also interesting as it represents the first nests to be documented within the Cape Town metropole in the last 14 years! A search through the nest record cards at the Avian Demography Unit, and previous issues of Promerops, found that the last known documented African Snipe nest (and possibly breeding record) within the metropole was of a nest monitored by Otto Schmidt in Philippi during July 1990 (see Promerops 210, p.6). We took the opportunity to take nest and egg measurements which have been included on nest record cards and submitted to the Nest Record Card Scheme (NERCS).

Historically, African Snipes have bred quite regularly within the Cape Town metropole using sites such at Athlone Sewage Works (1940s, 1950s & 1960s), Zandvlei (1960s), Jacobs Vlei (1960s), Rondebosch East (1960s), Rietvlei (1970s & 1980s), Noordhoek Wetlands (1970s), Strandfontein Sewage Works (1970s), Fish Hoek (1970s) and in the Philippi area on the Cape Flats (1960s & 1990s) (SAOS nest record cards). Interestingly, the earliest documented nest record was of a nest discovered in Welbeloord, Tygerberg in September 1926! 
Does anyone know if African Snipes still occur in the Tygerberg area?

The vlei at Edith Stephens Wetland Park not only provides nesting habitat for African Snipes but also for a host of other waterbirds. As the area fills from the winter rains, and water levels rise to as much as 40 cm in places, species such as Cape Shoveller and Black-winged Stilt also arrive to start breeding. Two stilt nests have been found this season, one on 30 August the other on 3 September, and both nests contained four eggs. During 2002 and 2003, at least one Black-winged Stilt nest was found. To date, two Cape Shoveller nests, each with eight eggs, and a Red-billed Teal nest (K. Louw pers. comm.) were also located. In previous years, Yellow-billed Ducks have used the vlei for breeding but no evidence has been found this season of this species breeding at this site.

What makes the Snipe and Stilt observations even more interesting is that these birds only arrive when the vlei becomes inundated. They seem to like the conditions that are created and which provide favourable breeding sites for these birds. These seasonal vleis (and marshes) are currently limited in the metropole and many have undoubtedly been destroyed in the last 50 years or so through urban and agricultural development, particularly on the Cape Flats. With less and less vlei and marshland available for these species, the Edith Stephens Wetland Park vlei becomes one of only a handful of sites left in the Cape Town metropole that provides adequate breeding and feeding sites for these species, and they should therefore be conserved and managed appropriately.

Edith Stephens Wetland Park is a pilot site of Cape Flats Nature, an NGO that is bringing biodiversity and urban conservation to the local communities on the Cape Flats. Together with the National Botanical Institute and the City of Cape Town they are doing tremendous work in making people more aware of the ecological value of the area.

 Their efforts may be a last hope for ensuring that African Snipe continue to breed on the Cape Flats.