Extremely rare sea bird found on uMngeni River bank

A RARE seabird which was found in distress on the banks of the uMngeni River estuary on Sunday has died.

Spokesperson for the South African Association for Marine Biological Research (SAAMBR), Ann Kunz, said the bird appeared weak and unable to stand or fly after it was brought in to uShaka Sea World for treatment.

The bird will be added to the Durban Science Museum’s taxidermy collection.

David Allan, curator of birds, at the Durban Natural Science Museum, identified the bird as a locally rare, female long-tailed jaeger (Stercorarius longicaudus).

“This is the first specimen of this bird species that we have got. The museum is over 100 years old, we must have over 1 000 species of birds represented in our collection so we are quite excited about this new bird. It shows how rare the bird is that we’ve never had one in our collection before,” he said.

For Kunz, preserving the bird was the “silver lining” of a “tragic” loss.

“Unfortunately, despite treatment, but not unexpectedly, the jaegar died two days after arrival,” she said.

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According to Kunz, spotting the jaeger on Durban’s coast is unexpected as their rare coastal visits usually take them to colder climates.

“These birds are rarely seen as they do not frequent the coastline during their non-breeding season from October to April. During this period they spend all their time at sea. Although they do spend their breeding season from May to August on land, their breeding grounds are in the tundra biomes of the Arctic where few humans venture,” she said.