BREEDING STATUS OF THE BLACK STORK IN THE TRANSVAAL

Summary Tarboton, Warwick. 1982. Breeding status of the Black Stork in the Transvaal. Ostrich 53:151-156. Black Storks were censused in the Transvaal during 1976–81 at 40 breeding sites of which 38 were occupied during at least one of the survey years. The Transvaal Black Stork population was estimated to be 50–70 breeding pairs. The storks bred in winter on cliffs in the hilly parts of the Transvaal, laid 2–5 eggs ([xbar] = 3,37; n = 19) and reared 1–4 young ([xbar] = 2,27; n = 22). Productivity was 2,24 young/clutch laid (n = 37) or 1,38 young/pair-year (n = 60). Pairs failed to breed, on average, in 38% of the years, usually in years of below-average rainfall. In severe drought years as few as a quarter of the known pairs attempted to breed. Coincidentally, in drought years Black Stork numbers increased greatly in the eastern Lowveld (Kruger National Park) where permanent feeding habitat exists but breeding sites are scarce, and it is suggested that this area, and possibly the Limpopo River, provide im...