On 6 March 2025 at our monthly meeting, Bas introduced us to Donella Young, a dedicated zoologist and biologist who played an important part in the now disbanded Animal Demography Unit at UCT. She has been involved with the Coordinated Avifaunal Roadcounts (CARs), where volunteers count and record Cranes and other large birds in specified areas, since the 1990s. Donella shared with us the journey of the CAR counts and how we can participate.
The counts started with just the Blue Crane and 2 species of Bustards. There are now routes all over the country (every province except NW Cape and Limpopo), with 30 routes being counted in the Overberg alone, and 51 species being counted of which 24 are on the Red List. SWBC has been involved from the beginning and club members are counting 7 routes. Many routes are counted by farmers (80% of land in RSA is privately owned farmland) but bird clubs, wildlide societies and even schools are taking part. There are 42 precinct organisers.
The data collected has been used in research and is particularly valuable because it’s been collected over a long period, allowing trends to be spotted. Many organisations request the information. The routes are all counted on the same day twice a year (summer and winter counts) which avoids counting the same individual bird twice. Summer counts are considered more accurate because in winter the birds are often in flocks and harder to count.
James Harrison’s book ‘Farming for the Future’ drew on the CAR count data. In the book the author outlines the ‘desirable dozen’ measures for farmland such as creating ecological corridors between indigenous vegetation areas, protecting waterways and monitoring power lines.
Want to get involved? Contact the club at somersetwestbirdclub@gmail.com and we will put you in touch with the right person.
Club members will be able to read a more detailed account of Donella’s absorbing talk in the next edition of the Batis (May 2025).
