Endangered Bird Life

There are hundreds of birds in South Africa that are endangered, threatening to throw our ecosystem into chaos. Often we forget what a vital role these tiny creatures play in our environment. Keeping insect populations down, they keep our entire system in balance. 

African Black Oystercatcher

I remember as a child, my parents sitting on the chair outside on our veranda looking at birds for hours through binoculars and I never understood why. Now that I am older the magnificence and true bliss of these creatures intrigues me. How they live their lives from one day to the next, believing that the next day they will be provided for. 

When I mentioned this to a friend of mine he said that it sounded like humans. As much we plan for the future and work to ensure that we have safe and comfortable lives we believe that tomorrow we will wake up and we will be able to do the same thing again. We trust our planet to do its part to provide for us. But if we continue to live as though the world can limitlessly provide when in actual fact we are on the verge of a total loss of nearly all our natural resources we will plunder ourselves into a major crisis. We forget that each decision we make has a consequence and every action has a reaction. 

Royal Northern Albatross 

If bird species continue to decline and we are not aware of how our actions affect this system, we will feel the effects sooner than later. There will be an increase in disease and a loss of crops. The continual loss of the birds' habitat and the obvious change in weather patterns will continue to push these birds migratory patterns off course. Animals that feed on these birds will also feel the impact and the circle of disaster will continue. 

Birds like the Blue Crane, Rockhopper Penguin, Northern Royal Albatross and African Black Oystercatcher will all be extinct in a few years. Take a stand and join a conservation team in your area and find out more about how you can prevent the extinction of these beautiful animals. Find out more about Plettenberg Bay Nature Reserves birds by following this link