Great White Pelicans

Volunteers' resighting program

The only breeding site of White Pelicans in the Western Cape is on Dassen Island. However, the expanding population of this birds uses a fair amount of sites in the mainland for feeding and roosting. Some of the localities are well known and they have been used since long time ago: Rondevlei, Rietvlei or Elandsbaai lagoon to mention some of the "natural" ones. More recently they have been almost daily visitors to some not-so-natural sites: the mentioned pigfarm, or many of the new ponds and dams linked to agricultural land and catchment areas.

It would be imposible to personally explore the totality of sites: vleis, dams, ponds, and farms in the Western Cape. For that reason I would require the kind collaboration of as many pairs of eyes as possible. My aim is to have a very accurate idea of where pelicans go in the Western Cape. One of the aspects that this information would be used for is to select the most visited (in numbers and constancy through the year) sites where to set fixed radio stations. These would log a signal emitted by individually tagged birds, and would provide us with detailed information on the frequency, speed, distances to and from the foraging places and the breeding site. Also it would assist in the selection of sites to observe foraging behavior in both natural and artificial conditions. Ultimately, it would provide us a good idea of the use of habitat by this birds, thus evaluationg the potential threats and conservation needs faced by the pelicans.

If you are willing to collaborate, please record your field observations (where, incl. coordinates if possible, how many, age group composition, activities observed, etc.) and email Marta de Ponte or fill up this form.