{"id":5108,"date":"2021-12-26T14:22:27","date_gmt":"2021-12-26T14:22:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wwbirds.co.za\/dir\/?p=5108"},"modified":"2024-08-18T11:02:23","modified_gmt":"2024-08-18T11:02:23","slug":"bird-of-the-year-2022-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wwbirds.co.za\/dir\/bird-of-the-year-2022-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"Bird of the year 2022 South Africa: Cape Gannet"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Bird of the year 2022 South Africa: BirdLife South Africa announced the Cape Gannet (Morus capensis<\/em>) as Bird of the Year for 2022. These spectacular high-speed diving birds are listed as Endangered. Cape Gannets plunge-dive, reaching speeds of up to 100 km per hour, from a considerable height for sardine and anchovy. They breed on only six islands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Main photo courtesy: Robert Graham<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Content creator: Petrus van Tonder<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bird of the year 2022: Cape Gannets became endangered because:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
    \n
  1. Energy-rich sardines and anchovies completion because of commercial fisheries.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Become tangled in fishing nets.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Natural enemy Cape Fur Seals and eggs or small chicks being eaten by Kelp Gulls.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. Oil-spills are a serious threat to Cape Gannets.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  5. Avian cholera, avian influenza and Aspergillus disease. <\/li>\n\n\n\n
  6. Extreme weather events can cause shorter nest-attendance times and mortality of chicks.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  7. Plastic in oceans. <\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Bird of the year 2022: Dr Zanri Strydom<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    I am very glad and thankful that I came across Zanri Strydom during my content research. Zanri is a Ph.D. candidate who enjoys teaching, doing seabird research, and seabird rehabilitation. Thank you very much for your permission to share your knowledge and for your contribution to the conservation<\/a> of the Endangered Cape gannet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"Bird<\/a>
    Click on the photo for a video about an inspiring story of a chick that recently lost one of its parents.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    Malgas Island <\/strong>holds a special place in Zanri and her husband’s hearts, and it has been an amazing few seasons collecting data for her Ph.D. research on an incredible seabird species, the Cape gannet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Tiaan Strydom: “Malgas island, one of the few islands the Cape gannet calls home. There guano was known as “white gold” when people came to the islands to harvest the guano and used in agriculture. Today this is an illegal practice and guano harvesting has stopped. Unfortunately, this iconic seabird’s population is under threat from various factors such as low fish stocks and predation from seals and Kelp gulls. My wife Zanri<\/a> and her fellow seabird researchers are trying hard to save these birds through ongoing research. It is time we really appreciate these birds and see them as the true “white gold”.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"Cape
    Preparing to weigh the adult from one of their study nests.
    Their work is ethically cleared and done under permit while adhering to strict biosecurity protocols to prevent the spread of flu.
    Photo by Lynette Volschenk<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    \"Cape
    Two study nests and chicks marked with non-toxic spray to aid their identification over the next few weeks that they will be re-measured. Please note that they have ethics clearance and valid research permits for all our work that they do on this Endangered species.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    Rehabilitation contributes to biodiversity<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    Here Zanri is rehabilitating a Cape gannet. Her work includes determining the effect that predation has on the Cape gannet population on Bird Island, Lambert’s Bay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"Cape<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    Zanri volunteered at SANCCOB in Cape Town to work with 25 abandoned Cape gannet chicks and juveniles from Bird Island. The chicks were abandoned when the parents followed the sardines without returning to feed their chicks. She has been a First Responder for SANCCOB since 2018 and Zanri continues to stabilize sick seabirds on the islands everywhere they go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"Cape<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    I am looking forward to publishing more information in future posts and in the magazine about the Cape Gannet, South Africa’s bird of the year 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n