List of birds of Gauteng

Typical Gauteng Highveld in winter

Location of Gauteng in South Africa

An alphabetic list of common names of birds occurring in Gauteng, South Africa. Gauteng includes both the cities of Johannesburg and Pretoria, and numerous satellite municipalities spreading over a total of some 18 000 square km and an enormous diversity of habitat, and ranging in elevation from 1300 to 1900 metres. Gauteng lies at the junction of three major biomes – grassland to the south, arid savanna to the north-west, and moist savanna to the north-east and east – this location largely accounts for its great diversity of species.

The growing occupation of the area by man since the discovery of gold in the late 1800s has led to inevitable habitat loss and degradation, with the consequent displacement and decline of many species. The establishing of parks and suburban gardens, on the other hand, has created a multitude of niches and this, together with progressively milder highveld winters, has attracted a wealth of bushveld species from north of the Magaliesberg, and from other warmer areas. Tall office blocks and high-rise apartments have provided nesting opportunities for cliff-dwellers, while the collective, man-made forest is regarded as the world's largest.^[1] Some arrivals in Johannesburg gardens within recent times have been the hadeda ibis, green wood hoopoe, Cape starling, red-winged starling, grey go-away-bird, African grey hornbill, pin-tailed whydah, African green pigeon and southern boubou.

Southern Africa's bird list numbers more than 900, with some 350 being found in Gauteng. Of the Southern Africa birds, 134 are endemic or near-endemic, while the centre of endemism is in the far west in the Karoo and Namib Desert. More species breed in Southern Africa than in Canada and the continental United States combined.

See also

• List of birds of South Africa
• List of Southern African birds

References

Abdim's stork  Acacia pied barbet  African black duck  African black swift  African crake  African cuckoo  African darter  African finfoot  African firefinch  African fish eagle  African grass owl  African hoopoe  African marsh harrier  African reed warbler  African palm swift  African paradise flycatcher  African pied starling  African pygmy kingfisher  African rail  African scops owl