Three million barn swallows (Hirundo rustica) are under threat of losing valuable roosting habitat in South Africa. The barn swallows breed throughout Europe and migrate thousands of miles to South Africa each fall where they roost in the Mount Moreland Reedbed. From early November through mid-April, hundreds of thousands of swallows can be seen flocking and filling the skies in and around the reedbed.

Now, plans to build an airport on the site of the reedbed are being considered. The proposed construction is part of a wider effort to provide the necessary infrastructure to host of World Cup 2010. The planned airport, King Shaka International Airport, is meant to replace the Durban International Airport which will be decommissioned after the new airport opens. The new King Shaka International Airport is to be located in La Mercy, a town that lies 30 kilometres north of Durban, South Africa.

The Mount Moreland Reedbed lies southwest of the planned airport and is precariously aligned with a proposed runway. BirdLife International fears that flocking birds will interfere with the flight path of aircraft, causing safety concerns for birds and planes alike and making it likely that airport authorities will seek to bulldoze the reedbed to make way for air traffic.

The Mount Moreland Reedbed is already an isolated island of habitat nestled amongst sugarcane plantations and human development. It provides critical habitat for the birds and alternate roosting areas are few and far between. If the reedbeds are impacted by development and air traffic, it may pave the way for a population crash among barn swallows.

“Sites like the Mount Moreland Reedbed, that are important for large aggregations of birds, are particularly vulnerable to change. Removal of one suitable area can have an enormous impact on bird numbers. For a roost this size, the effect on breeding Barn Swallows numbers would be felt throughout Europe”. – Stuart Butchart (Global Species Programme Coordinator, BirdLife International)

Find out more:

• ‘World Cup 2010’ Development Threatens Millions of Roosting Barn Swallows (Birdlife International)
• Birdlife SA Opposes La Mercy Airport Development (South African National Parks)

Photo © Chris Knights / Birdlife International. Swallows at the Mount Moreland Reedbeds.