Our national bird is in peril

Blue cranes are uplisted to vulnerable due to threats such as habitat loss, powerlines, fences and poisoning

- Sheree Bega

South Africa's national bird, the blue crane, has officially been uplisted from near-threatened to vulnerable, reflecting growing concern about its future.

The uplisting of the elegant, pale blue-grey bird means that it faces a high risk of extinction in the wild in the medium term. This is according to the Overberg Crane Group and Endangered Wildlife Trust and International Crane Foundation, which described the species' uplisting in the newly-published Regional Red Data Book 2025, as a "wake-up call for conservation".

While the Karoo boasts the highest number of blue cranes in the country, its decline is of particular concern in the Overberg region of the Western Cape, where they occur at higher densities than anywhere else in South Africa.

Data from the long-running citizen science project, Coordinated Avifaunal Roadcounts, shows that the Overberg has recorded an alarming 44% drop in blue crane numbers between 2011 and this year. Before the decline, the group's accounts indicated blue crane numbers had increased by 261% between 1994 and 2010.

"These dramatic figures are especially concerning given this region once had a thriving ... population," the conservation organisations said.

In the Karoo, Coordinated Avifaunal Roadcounts figures showed that populations had declined prior to 2017. But, this data is dated given that the organisation's counts are no longer done in this region, they said.

To fix this, BirdLife South Africa has formed a working group with the Endangered Wildlife Trust and International Crane Foundation partnership; the Overberg Crane Group and the FitzPatrick Institute to reinvigorate the project, particularly in areas like the Karoo.

The citizen science project is conducted twice annually, relying on dedicated volunteers who count birds along fixed routes creating one of the most robust long-term datasets for large terrestrial birds in the country.