12-06-2025
First sighting of rare spotted ground thrush in Palm Lakes
An exciting discovery of a rare and endangered bird at Palm Lakes Family Estate has brought hope to local conservationists.
During a ringing event at the eco-estate on June 1, founders of The LionHeart Experience, Richard and Candice McKibbin – along with other environmentalists – caught and ringed the elusive spotted ground thrush.
This follows months of work by the husband-and-wife duo, who, in collaboration with the University of KwaZulu-Natal, officially launched the Citizen Science Census of the ground-dwelling bird, which takes place on July 19 and 20 throughout KZN.
The couple is working with ecological academics Professor Colleen Downs, Dr Jonah Gula and Dr Nasiphi Bitani to study and generate new data on the species' population status and distribution.
Other North Coast eco-estates, including Palm Lakes, will serve as monitoring sites within the conservation study. The Swiss Ornithological Institute has donated 15 geographic locators to track bird movement.
The LionHeart Experience team is thrilled with the breakthrough. They have been studying and protecting Palm Lakes' biodiversity for years but had not previously encountered the bird.
'This has been a passion project for us for many years,' said Richard.
'We've been searching for the spotted ground thrush in the forests of the estate for the past four years. We always believed it was here.'
Candice noted that the eco-estate is special for wildlife and continues to yield incredible finds.
'The discovery of the spotted ground thrush is significant and extremely important. We hope to monitor its movements and confirm the presence of additional birds in the estate,' she said.
These coastal forest birds breed in the Eastern Cape and Transkei but migrate to KZN during the winter months. BirdLife South Africa and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) estimate that only 600 to 1 500 birds remain in the country.
The Tinley Manor eco-estate is now considered a potential refuge for the spotted ground thrush. However, some notable threats remain.
'In forests where we have documented spotted ground thrush, we have found numerous cats roaming the area. This is a real threat to the bird's survival, as is loss of natural habitat through development,' said Richard.
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