Delta’s record-breaking Cape Robin turns 18

Delta Park’s very own record-breaking bird is being celebrated after being spotted again, 18 years to the day after she literally flew into the Delta Park Environmental Centre.

After tagging the Cape Robin on 25 May 2000, the centre’s Geoff Lockwood was astonished to see his old friend once again on 25 May this year.

Lockwood said, “When she first flew into the centre all those years ago, she accidentally flew through our front door and trapped herself inside the building.

I managed to catch her, and as a permitted ringer, I thought before we let it go we should tag her with a ring, without any hope that it would lead to anything.

“18 years to the day after I first tagged her, she appeared at our doorstep again.”

According to Lockwood, for every 100 birds ringed, depending on their size, the chances of getting any information back are very slim.

“I wasn’t expecting anything, but instead, this has led to a long-term relationship with this bird.”

On 16 December 2016, she became the longest-living Cape Robin on the database and continues to push this record with each new re-sighting.

The bird has stayed within the Delta Park area for more than 18 years and has been observed on various occasions.

Lockwood said, “This particular bird, unlike the previous record holder in Cape Town, was not only tagged but observed regularly at the centre.”

The Cape Town record-holding bird lived to the age of about 16 and a half years.

Lockwood noted that in the past three years he had noticed an injury on the bird’s tail.

“The bird’s outermost tail feathers have been pure white and not fully grow every time she has moulted in the last three seasons. As she flies, you can see this beautiful white flash in her tail, which only adds to her distinction,” he said.

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