Bird enthusiasts will be excited to know that the South African endemic Knysna Warbler, thought to be locally extinct in Cape Town, has recently been rediscovered.
The Knysna Warbler (Bradypterus sylvaticus) is a small bird that inhabits dense tangles and thickets in or on the edge of forests. It is extremely secretive as it creeps around the dense undergrowth, but it has a beautiful distinctive call that consists of clear high-pitched notes that accelerate, ending in a trill. It is a very mysterious species and sought-after by foreign and local birders alike.
The scarcity of records led most birders and conservation authorities to conclude that the Knysna Warbler was locally extinct in Cape Town.
Mike Buckham, Chairman of the Cape Bird Club, rediscovered the Knysna Warbler when he heard it calling on one of his regular runs in the Newlands section of the Table Mountain National Park in November last year.
“Having run the contour path so many times in the last few years, hoping to hear the song of the Knysna Warbler and having failed, I had absolutely no expectation that I would hear it on that morning a few weeks ago. I rounded a corner and slowed to listen to a Tambourine Dove’s mournful hooting and, further up the slope above me, I heard the distinctive chipping followed by the rattling trill of a Knysna Warbler.
“I frantically fumbled for my phone and recorded the song as I knew no one would believe me unless I had evidence and fortunately managed a few seconds of distant song, mostly drowned out by my heavy breathing, but it was good enough proof that Knysna Warblers were still on our mountain. I have been up again there about five times since and have managed to hear it again each time – it is almost as if I didn’t believe it the first time,” said Buckham.
The exciting news spread quickly with many birders doing the hike in order to try to see or hear the species. With a little patience, most were rewarded and managed to hear or even see the bird.
Despite its name, it has historically been found along the narrow coastal strip from Cape Town to near Durban. The Cape Town population has always been isolated, with their main range from Swellendam eastwards, however it was where most birders managed to tick off the species because it used to be a regular feature on the eastern slopes of the Peninsula.
They are considered to be threatened and are classified as ‘vulnerable’ due to a relatively small and declining population pressured by habitat loss and degradation.
While the discovery of these birds does not by any means indicate that the species is out of danger of becoming locally extinct, it is hopefully the nucleus of a population that can become well established into the future.
