Welcome to the official BirdLife Overberg website. The club is proudly affiliated with BirdLife South Africa and its mission reads:

  1. To allow people in the Overberg with an interest in birds to become involved in bird-watching by participating in the typical activities associated with BirdLife South Africa and its international partners;
  2. To place a strong emphasis on educational programs in order to get participants involved in the meaningful conservation of birds and their habitats;
  3. To market the Overberg as a top birding destination, thus contributing to the region’s already impressive tourism infrastructure.
A Cape Sugarbird feeds on Brunia stokoei flowers.
Cape Sugarbird feeding on Brunia stokoei (Carin Malan)

Activities

A variety of activities are on offer to members, the most popular being regular monthly public meetings and at least one group outing per month. Top speakers are invited to address these illustrated meetings and the outings are to some of the prime bird-watching destinations in the region. Two or three weekend outings or tours are also presented per annum. Other innovative activities include regular monthly lists of bird species recorded throughout the Overberg region by members and collaborators and monthly photo galleries of images recorded by members.

Education

Five distinctive weekend-long bird identification courses have been created and more than forty talks on birding opportunities at top destinations throughout South Africa are on offer. The Covid19 pandemic made the presentation of live courses almost impossible with the result that these courses have also been presented through Zoom. All the courses and talks can now also be ordered for forwarding with WeTransfer.

Conservation

A pair of Greater Flamingos stand in the shallows of the Vermont salt pan in the Overberg.
Greater Flamingos at Vermont salt pan (Carin Malan)
A trio of African Black Oystercatchers at Franskraal in the Overberg.
African Black Oystercatchers at Franskraal (Carin Malan)

BirdLife Overberg’s CleanMarine campaign is aimed at addressing several important conservation issues along the region’s coastline. Projects in this regard include regular coastal clean-ups, quarterly water bird counts (CWACs) along all the Overstrand estuaries and the protection of the nests of African Black Oystercatchers and White-fronted Plovers breeding along our beaches. Fundraising actions are also presented in view of financing some of these and other conservation projects. 

Destinations

A Cape Rockjumper at Rotary Way in the Overberg.
Cape Rockjumper at Rotary Way, Hermanus (Johan van der Westhuizen)

The top birding destinations in the Overberg and adjacent areas such as the Langberg region are also marketed aggressively. This is done in view of attracting local and international birders to visit our area in support of the region’s already impressive tourism infrastructure. 

Membership

A group of BirdLife Overberg members on an outing.
BirdLife Overberg birders at Witkrans (Anton Odendal)

This website is one of many mediums whereby the club communicates with its members and other interested and affected parties. Others include two WhatsApp groups, a Facebook page, a bi-monthly newsletter, regular newsflashes and so on. You are invited to browse around the website and find out about forthcoming events, read trip and outing reports, get information on where to watch birds in the region and much more. Join BirdLife Overberg in support of our efforts and have lots of fun with our growing membership while doing so.