Pigeon Valley is a Natural Heritage Park and formally declared municipal nature reserve in Durban, South Africa (29.8646° S, 30.9869° E). It is an unusual example of an urban reserve with very high levels of biodiversity. It was established to provide protection for the Natal elm (Celtis mildbraedii) and other forest giants of the coastal climax forest.Bodenstein, J. (2009) Another rare tree that occurs here is Natal forest loquat (Oxyanthus pyriformis), which is endemic to the Durban area and to oNgoye Forest.
Pigeon Valley is about 11 ha in extent, and is situated on the Berea, overlooking Durban Bay. Its unusual north-south orientation may contribute to the biodiversity, with the south-facing slope covered in canopy forest, while the north-facing slope has thorny thickets. An adjoining reservoir, previously part of the reserve, provides a patch of coastal grassland.
Animals
The park is home to red duiker and blue duiker. Other mammals include Cape genet, a troop of banded mongooses as well as slender and water mongooses. Blue vervet monkeys are constantly present. In July 2019, a side-striped jackal was seen in neighbouring roads and was apparently living in the reserve for a time. This may be the southernmost sighting of this species.
The reserve was named after the Eastern Bronze-naped Pigeon, which is now locally extinct. Various species of forest birds are found here including; red-capped robin-chat, green twinspot, Cape white-eye, southern boubou, spotted ground thrush, purple-crested turaco and African paradise flycatcher. The black sparrowhawk breeds here annually. There are increasingly common visits by the Crowned eagle, and it seems that two birds are now resident in the suburban area. Another bird that is seldom seen but that is generally present is buff-spotted flufftail.Birds in Reserves, ADU Unusual sightings of note in recent years include European nightjar, Knysna warbler, lemon dove, mountain wagtail, black-throated wattle-eye, common scimitarbill, palm-nut vulture and Knysna turaco. The current bird list for Pigeon Valley includes 162 species. Now (Nov 2023) 167 species recorded out of 879 recorded by BLSA (List of birds of South Africa).
The Spotted ground thrush is of particular note, as Pigeon Valley is one of the places where this endangered bird can be most reliably found in winter. It arrives typically in late March or early April, and is present until August or September; earliest arrival date recorded has been 22 March and latest (in 2015) 5 October, apart from a single January sighting. Summer migrants include, occasionally, black cuckoo, red-chested cuckoo and red-backed shrike.
Bird list + Bird list for Pigeon Valley Family Species Status Notes Apalis Bar-throated Breeding resident Apalis Yellow-breasted Breeding resident BarbetAcacia PiedRare visitorJuly 2021 Barbet Black-collared Breeding resident Recent decline in numbers Barbet Crested Occasional visitor Barbet White-eared Breeding resident Increasing in number Batis Cape Breeding resident Batis Chinspot Occasional visitor Bee-eater Little Occasional visitor Blackcap Black Rare visitor 22 August 2020 Boubou Southern Breeding resident Brownbul Terrestrial Breeding resident Bulbul Dark-capped Breeding resident Bunting Golden-breasted Occasional visitor April 1992, 30 March 2013 Bush shrike Gorgeous Rare visitor 2007 Bush shrike Grey-headed Occasional visitor 2012; 2014, 2019-2020, possibly breeding summer 2024-5 Bush shrike Olive Winter and spring visitor Bush shrike Orange-breasted Occasional visitor 2011; 2024-5 Buzzard Steppe Infrequent visitor March 2019 Camaroptera Green-backed Breeding resident Canary Brimstone Regular visitor Canary Yellow-fronted Regularly present Chat Familiar Occasional visitor Cisticola Zitting Rare visitor Pair present 2015; 2020 Coucal Burchell's Breeding resident Breeding since 2021 Crested Flycatcher Blue-mantled Rare visitor Female present 2014-6 Crow Pied Occasional visitor Cuckoo-HawkAfricanRare visitorPresent June 2014 Cuckoo Black Occasional summer visitor Cuckoo Common Rare visitor 1979; November 2018 Cuckoo Diederik Regular summer visitor Cuckoo Emerald Occasional summer visitor Cuckoo Jacobin Rare visitor October 2016 Cuckoo Klaas's Breeding resident Breeding 2014 Cuckoo Red-chested Occasional summer visitor 2015, 2017 Cuckooshrike Black Occasional visitor Mainly winter Cuckooshrike Grey Rare visitor Mainly winter Doves & pigeons African green pigeon Record from 1979 Doves & pigeons Laughing dove Breeding resident Doves & pigeons Lemon dove Rare visitor 2012, 2018 Doves & pigeons Red-eyed dove Breeding resident Doves & pigeons Rock dove Occasional visitor Doves & pigeons Tambourine dove Breeding resident Drongo Fork-tailed Breeding resident Drongo Square-tailed Breeding resident Duck White-faced whistling Infrequent visitor November 2017 Eagle African crowned Occasional visitor Eagle-owl Spotted Occasional visitor Falcon Lanner Occasional visitor Firefinch African Breeding resident Firefinch Red-billed Breeding resident First sighting January 2015; now established Fiscal Common Not seen in recent years Flufftail Buff-spotted Breeding resident Seen regularly Flycatcher Ashy Breeding resident Flycatcher Dusky Breeding resident Flycatcher Fiscal Regular winter visitor Flycatcher Southern Black Breeding resident Flycatcher Spotted Uncommon summer visitor Present late 2014GooseEgyptianBreeding resident Goshawk African Breeding resident Greenbul Sombre Breeding resident Greenbul Yellow-bellied Breeding resident Breeding since 2021Hamerkop Hamerkop Occasional visitor Harrier-Hawk African Regular visitor Heron Black-headed Occasional visitor Hobby Eurasian Rare visitor March 2015 Honey-Buzzard European Rare visitor First sighting January 2015 Honeybird Brown-backed Occasional visitor Honeyguide Greater Rare visitor Not seen in recent years Honeyguide Lesser Usually present Honeyguide Scaly-throated Occasional visitor Hoopoe African Occasional visitor Hornbill Crowned Rare visitor 2015 Hornbill Trumpeter Rare visitor 2011 Ibis Hadeda Breeding resident Indigobird Village Uncertain as yet First sighted June 2019KingfisherAfrican PygmyOccasional visitor Kingfisher Brown-hooded Breeding resident KingfisherMalachiteDry seasonRoberts VII Kingfisher Mangrove Rare visitor 2011, March 2016, 8 October 2017 Kite Yellow-billed Breeding migrant Malkoha Green Infrequent visitor 2010, 2017-8 Mannikin Bronze Breeding resident Mannikin Red-backed Breeding resident Martin Rock Occasional visitor MousebirdRed-facedBreeding resident Mousebird Speckled Breeding resident Myna Common Frequent visitor Nightjar European Rare visitor 2013; 18 December 2014 Nightjar Fiery-necked Occasional visitor Oriole Black-headed Breeding resident OwlSouthern White-facedRare vagrantJuly 2018 Owl Western Barn Rare visitor Record from 1979, April 2023 Paradise flycatcher African Parakeet Rose-ringed Regular visitor Prinia Tawny-flanked Breeding resident Puffback Black-backed Breeding resident Quelea Red-billed Rare visitor December 2017 Robin White-starred Rare visitor Juvenile 26 April 2026, first in recent years Robin-Chat Cape Occasional visitor Mainly winter Robin-Chat Chorister Occasional visitor Mainly winter Robin-Chat Red-capped Breeding resident Saw-wing Black Regular visitor Scimitarbill Common Rare visitor 11 November 2016 Scrub Robin White-browed Formerly breeding resident Seedeater Streaky-headed Breeding resident Shrike Red-backed Infrequent summer visitor Present Nov 2015 Sparrow House Occasional visitor Sparrow Southern grey-headed Occasional visitor Sparrowhawk Black Breeding resident Sparrowhawk Little Occasional visitor Spurfowl Natal Breeding resident Starling Black-bellied Breeding resident Starling Cape Glossy Breeding resident Starling Red-winged Regularly present Starling Violet-backed Occasional summer visitor Stonechat African Rare visitor Not seen in recent years Stork Woolly-necked Occasional visitor Sunbird Amethyst Breeding resident Sunbird Collared Breeding resident Sunbird Greater double-collared Infrequent visitor Sunbird Grey Breeding resident Sunbird Olive Breeding resident Sunbird Purple-banded Regular visitor Winter Sunbird White-bellied Breeding resident Swallow Barn Regular visitor Summer Swallow Lesser-striped Regular visitor Swallow White-throated Occasional visitor SwiftAfrican PalmRegularly present Swift Alpine Rare visitor Not seen in recent years Swift Black Rare visitor Swift Little Regularly present Swift White-rumped Occasional visitor Tchagra Southern Rare visitor 2017, 2018 Thrush Kurrichane Breeding resident Thrush Olive Winter visitor Present March 2014, 2018ThrushSpotted GroundRegular migrantApril to September; November 2014; January 2016 Tinkerbird Red-fronted Occasional visitor October 2017, July 2020 Tinkerbird Yellow-rumped Breeding resident Tit Southern black Breeding resident Trogon Narina Occasional visitor Turaco Knysna Rare visitor September 1991; 1 October 2017 Turaco Purple-crested Breeding resident Twinspot Green Regular visitor Breeding record 2014 Vulture Palm-nut Rare visitor 22 October 2017, May 2020 Wagtail Cape Occasional visitor Wagtail Mountain Rare visitor Seen once in 1990s, again in 2013 Warbler Barratt's Infrequent winter visitor June 2014, 2017 Warbler Garden Rare visitor Present winter 2015 Warbler Knysna Rare visitor 20 August 2017, 2018, 2025 Warbler Marsh Summer visitor Several 2017-9 Warbler Willow Rare summer visitor December 2014WarblerYellow-throated WoodlandRare visitor, winter13 August 2016 Wattle-eye Black-throated Rare visitor 2013; present in 2015 Waxbill Common Regular visitor Waxbill Grey Breeding resident WeaverCapeBreeding resident Weaver Dark-backed Breeding resident Weaver Eastern Golden Breeding Rare visitor, then breeding from 2023 Weaver Spectacled Regularly present Weaver Thick-billed Breeding resident Weaver Village Breeding resident White-eye Cape Breeding resident Wood-hoopoe Green Regular visitor Woodpecker Cardinal Breeding resident Woodpecker Golden-tailed Breeding resident Woodpecker Olive Rare visitor 2009, 2017, 2018, 2019-2020 Whydah Pin-tailed Irregular visitor 2015, 2017
Butterflies The reserve is excellent for butterflies, and the total listing is now 95 species. In September 2018 the first pupae of the short-barred sapphire were found on a Celtis mildbraedii tree. The host plant is the Oncocalyx quinquenervius mistletoe, which grows profusely on the tree. Subsequently a red-line sapphire was found at the same spot. The first forest queen was found in 2019.