Birds at Princess Vlei

Princess Vlei offers an ideal habitat for birds, and there are a number of both resident and visiting species. Here are some of the more common visitors (thanks to Shaun Overmeyer and Gavin Lawson of the Cape Town Bird Club, and Doug Harebottle of the Animal Demography Unit, University of Cape Town, for providing this list and the pictures

• Ibis, African Sacred - Threskiornis aethiopicus - Water
• Bishop, Yellow - Euplectes capensis - Weaver
• Bokmakierie, Bokmakierie - Telophorus zeylonus
• Boubou, Southern - Laniarius ferrugineus
• Bulbul, Cape - Pycnonotus capensis
• Canary, Cape - Serinus canicollis
• Cisticola, Levaillant’s - Cisticola tinniens - Warbler
• Coot, Red-knobbed - Fulica cristata - Water
• Crow, Pied - Corvus albus
• Dove, Red-eyed - Streptopelia semitorquata
• Turtle-Dove, Cape - Streptopelia capicola
• Dove, Laughing - Streptopelia senegalensis
• Duck, Yellow-billed - Anas undulata - Water
• Egret, Little - Egretta garzetta - water
• Fiscal, Common - Lanius collaris
• Fish-Eagle, African - Haliaeetus vocifer - Raptor
• Flamingo, Greater - Phoenicopterus roseus -
• Goose, Egyptian - Alopochen aegyptiacus - Water
• Grebe, Great Crested - Podiceps cristatus

• Guineafowl, Helmeted - Numida meleagris - Terrestrial
• Gull, Hartlaub’s - Larus hartlaubii - Coastal
• Gull, Kelp - Larus dominicanus - Coastal
• Heron, Grey - Ardea cinerea - water
• Ibis, Hadeda - Bostrychia hagedash - Water
• Kite, Black shouldered - Elanus axillaris - raptor
• Kingfisher, Pied - Ceryle rudis
• Lapwing, Blacksmith - Vanellus armatus - Water
• Martin, Brown-throated - Riparia paludicola
• Masked-Weaver, Southern - Ploceus velatus - Weaver
• Moorhen, Common - Gallinula chloropus - Water
• Pelican, Great white - Pelecanus onocrotalus - water
• Reed-Warbler, African - Acrocephalus baeticatus Warbler
• Rush-Warbler, Little - Bradypterus baboecala - Warbler
• Cisticola, Zitting - Cisticola juncidis - Warbler
• Sparrow - Cape Passer melanurus - Seed
• Spurfowl, Cape - Pternistis capensis - Terrestrial
• Starling, Common - Sturnus vulgaris

• Starling, Red-winged - Onychognathus morio
• Sunbird, Southern Double-collared - Cinnyris chalybeus - Sunbird
• Swallow, Barn - Hirundo rustica -
• Swallow, Greater Striped - Hirundo cucullata -
• Swallow, White throated. Hirundo albigularis
• Swamp-Warbler, Lesser - Acrocephalus gracilirostris - Warbler
• Swift, White-rumped - Apus caffer -
• Teal, Cape - Anas capensis - water
• Thick-knee, Spotted - Burhinus capensis - Terrestrial
• Wagtail, Cape - Motacilla capensis - Water
• Wagtail, Cape Long Claw - Macronyx capensis
• Waxbill, Common - Estrilda astrild - Seed
• Whydah, Pin-tailed - Vidua macroura - Seed
• Canary, Cape - Serinus canicollis - Canary
• Dove, Rock - Columba livia
• White-eye, Cape - Zosterops virens - Terrestrial
• Prinia, Karoo - Prinia maculosa - Terrestrial
• Weaver, Cape - Ploceus capensis - Weaver