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One Durban Tree Recorded 636 Visits by 47 Bird Species Across a Year

Purple-crested turaco perched on a branch in Ithala Game Reserve, South Africa
Research · Ecology

Structured observations of a single suburban tree in Westville, Durban, South Africa, recorded 636 visits by 47 bird species during 108 one-hour sessions spread across a year. The study, published on 3 March 2026 in Birds, examined how season, time of day, weather, foliage and other local conditions were associated with bird use of one flamboyant tree (Delonix regia).

The same 11-metre tree was observed from 24 April 2019 to 7 April 2020. For each visit, the observer recorded species, behaviour, arrival and departure direction, time spent in the tree and branch size. Most visits lasted less than a minute, and birds more often departed in a different direction from the one in which they arrived, suggesting that the tree frequently served as a stopover.

Representative bird species photographed on the Durban study tree
Representative bird species observed on the study tree. Figure 2 from Procheş and Sieben (2026), Birds, CC BY 4.0.

Species Used the Tree Differently Through the Year

The six most frequent visitors were common bulbul and black-bellied starling with 61 visits each, Cape white-eye and ashy flycatcher with 52 each, fork-tailed drongo with 50 and purple-crested turaco with 46.

Ashy flycatcher (Fraseria caerulescens) made 52 visits and was recorded more often in spring and summer, when the birds were nesting on a nearby human-made structure. Southern black flycatcher (Melaenornis pammelaina) made 32 visits and was among the species associated with winter.

White-eared barbet (Stactolaema leucotis) made 23 visits and was associated with lower leaf cover, while bronze mannikin (Spermestes cucullata) made 17 visits and was more often recorded on cooler days. These were associations within the single-tree dataset rather than evidence that any one environmental variable alone caused the visitation patterns.

Purple-Crested Turacos Followed a Directional Route

Purple-crested turacos (Gallirex porphyreolophus) made 46 visits and were recorded in all four seasons and 11 of the 12 months. The authors describe a repeated directional pattern: in the morning, turacos typically moved uphill by short flights and hops and used the study tree along the route. On the downhill return towards the nearby valley, they usually made a single longer flight that bypassed the tree.

Across all species, activity was generally highest early in the morning and greater in spring and summer. Feeding was recorded during 112 visits, mostly on insects. Larger bird species tended to perch on larger branches and to remain in the tree for longer, although the environmental models overall had only modest predictive power. Because the study covered one tree in one neighbourhood, it does not establish city-wide habitat preferences, home ranges or population trends.

Sources and image credit

  1. Procheş, Ş., & Sieben, E. J. J. (2026). Correlates of bird visits to one single tree in Durban, South Africa: Ecological and birdwatching implications. Birds, 7(1), 16. https://doi.org/10.3390/birds7010016Primary peer-reviewed open-access study published 3 March 2026 under CC BY 4.0. During 108 one-hour sessions from 24 April 2019 to 7 April 2020, 636 visits by 47 bird species were recorded at one Delonix regia tree in Westville, Durban.

Image: Bernard DUPONT — wild purple-crested turaco (Gallirex porphyreolophus) at Ntshondwe Camp, Ithala Game Reserve, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, photographed 22 September 2016; Wikimedia Commons/Flickr; representative species image · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Source

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Ecology

SPECIES IN THIS STORY

Species in this story

Purple-crested Turaco Gallirex porphyreolophus Explore species Bronze Mannikin Spermestes cucullata Explore species Southern Black Flycatcher Melaenornis pammelaina Explore species Ashy Flycatcher Fraseria caerulescens Explore species White-eared Barbet Stactolaema leucotis Explore species Common Bulbul Pycnonotus barbatus Explore species Cape White-eye Zosterops virens Explore species Fork-tailed Drongo Dicrurus adsimilis Explore species

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