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Wider Gauteng (100K) Listing Club

(Jo'burg-Pretoria Listers)

Introduction | Totals (200 and upwards!) | Map of area | List of Localities | Submit/Update your information

Guidelines | Click here for Background and Motivation

See also the 2011 Gauteng Birding Challenge

While a lifelist is a personal thing, once you share and compare your lifelist with others, it is useful to establish some sort of common understanding of what the list represents. The lists submitted for the Jo'burg Pretoria listing Club is therefore based on the following understanding:

AREA: The wider Pretoria and Johannesburg Region, defined as no more than 100km from Johannesburg OR Pretoria city centres. Where observers are in doubt about whether a sighting occurred within this area or not, the bird in question should be left off the list.
While standards of identification may be a personal choice, most birders will only list a bird, for which they could personally observe diagnostic features, which convincingly eliminated any doubts as to the birds identification.
Only wild species from established free-living populations may be counted. Flufftails and Nightjars may be counted on call. All other species should be counted on good sight observations only.
TIME PERIOD: Only sightings made since 1980 should be listed.
Totals should be based on the list available for download here:
Please let us know if you have seen any species not on the list - these should be preferably be submitted to the SABAP2 project for vetting !!
There is also an annual list (see totals just for 2011), and you can also keep your list online . . . . .here

Motivation for the Wider Gauteng (100K) Listing Region

A key aspect of birding, is to keep lists of particular countries, regions or areas. Why not the Wider Gauteng Region - which has more than 500 possible species - more than many countries and regions in the northern hemisphere, where keeping of lists is a large and growing hobby?

The idea has been in circulation for some time, and in 2001 a "Pretoria Birding Challenge" was run which attracted a lot of interest and participation, with two birders recording over 400 species in a single year.

In mid-2004 there was some discussion on the popular local birding forum "Pretoriabirds", on the boundaries of this area. A general consensus was reached that the Gauteng boundaries are problematic and it would be better to use a boundary determined by 100km from the centre of Pretoria or Johannesburg. The map (click here) indicates the area covered, but the list of birding sites which follows also provides a good indication of where birding can be included for your "Wider Gauteng (100K) Region" list.

Participation in this list has the following motivation:

To promote the enjoyment of birding on a local level.
To provide motivation to those without the time/resources/inclination to travel to far-flung areas.
To highlight the potential and enjoyment of birding locally.
To support the future growth of birding tourism in the wider gauteng region.

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