A REVIEW OF THE AQUATIC AVIFAUNA OF THE MHLATHUZE ESTUARY

Summary

This paper is the first published review of the aquatic avifauna of the Mhlathuze Estuary. It also uses a regional approach in order to determine the potential for certain hitherto unrecorded species to occur there. The study shows that there appear to have been significant changes in the aquatic avifauna over the past 15 years and that these have, by and large, been negative. However, information on the current status of the avifauna is lacking and it is considered important to determine this as soon as possible.

Keywords:

• Mhlathuze Estuary
• aquatic avifauna
• review
• conservation priorities
• information gaps