Pigeon Valley

For the Pigeon Valley in Turkey, see Uçhisar.

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.^[1] Another rare tree that occurs here is Natal forest loquat (Oxyanthus pyriformis), which is endemic to the Durban area and to oNgoye Forest.

In March 2020, a juvenile Crowned Eagle stands over its prey, a Red Duiker

Hikers in Pigeon Valley

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

Red duiker at Pigeon Valley

Male buff-spotted flufftail in Pigeon Valley, January 2014

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.^[2] 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^[3] 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
Barbet	Acacia Pied	Rare visitor	July 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; summer 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-Hawk	African	Rare visitor	Present 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
Dove	Laughing	Breeding resident
Dove	Lemon	Rare visitor	2012, 2018
Dove	Red-eyed	Breeding resident
Dove	Rock	Occasional visitor
Dove	Tambourine	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	African Paradise	Breeding resident
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 2014
Goose	Egyptian	Breeding resident
Goshawk	African	Breeding resident
Greenbul	Sombre	Breeding resident
Greenbul	Yellow-bellied	Breeding resident	Breeding since 2021
Hamerkop	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 2019
Kingfisher	African Pygmy	Occasional visitor
Kingfisher	Brown-hooded	Breeding resident
Kingfisher	Malachite	Dry season	Roberts 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
Mousebird	Red-faced	Breeding 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
Owl	Southern White-faced	Rare vagrant	July 2018
Owl	Western Barn	Rare visitor	Record from 1979, April 2023
Parakeet	Rose-ringed	Regular visitor
Pigeon	African Green	Record from 1979
Prinia	Tawny-flanked	Breeding resident
Puffback	Black-backed	Breeding resident
Quelea	Red-billed	Rare visitor	December 2017
Robin	White-starred	Rare visitor	Not seen 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
Swift	African Palm	Regularly 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, 2018
Thrush	Spotted Ground	Regular migrant	April 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
Warbler	Marsh	Summer visitor	Several 2017-9
Warbler	Willow	Rare summer visitor	December 2014
Warbler	Yellow-throated Woodland	Rare visitor, winter	13 August 2016
Wattle-eye	Black-throated	Rare visitor	2013; present in 2015
Waxbill	Common	Regular visitor
Waxbill	Grey	Breeding resident
Weaver	Cape	Breeding 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.

Butterflies of Pigeon Valley

Family or subfamily	Common name	Scientific name
Monarch	African Monarch	Danaus chrysippus orientis
	Novice	Amauris ochlea ochlea
	Layman	Amauris albimaculata albimaculata
Browns	African Ringlet	Ypthima asterope
	Common Bush Brown	Bicyclus safitza safitza
	Squinting Bush Brown	Bicyclus anynana anynana
	Twilight Brown	Melanitis leda helena
Acraeas	Blood-red Acraea	Acraea petraea
	Common Wanderer	Acraea aganice aganice
	Dancing Acraea	Telchinia serena
	Dusky Acraea	Telchinia esebria esebria
	Dusky-veined Acraea	Telchinia igola
	Natal Acraea	Acraea natalica
	White-barred Acraea	Telchinia encedon encedon
	Window Acraea	Acraea oncaea
	Yellow-banded Acraea	Telchinia cabira
Leopards	Blotched Leopard	Lachnoptera ayresii
	Forest Leopard	Phalanta eurytis imitator
Emperors	Blue-spotted Emperor	Charaxes cithaeron cithaeron
	Forest Queen	Charaxes wakefieldi
	Green-veined Emperor	Charaxes candiope candiope
	Pearl Emperor	Charaxes varanes varanes
	Satyr Emperor	Charaxes ethalion ethalion
	Silver-barred Emperor	Charaxes druceanus druceanus
	White-barred Emperor	Charaxes brutus natalensis
Gliders/Sailers	Blonde Glider	Cymothoe coranus coranus
	Boisduval's False Acraea	Pseudacraea boisduvali trimeni
	Boisduval's Tree Nymph	Sevenia boisduvali
	False Chief	Pseudacraea lucretia tarquinia
	False Wanderer	Pseudacrea eurytus imitator
	Golden Piper	Eurytela dryope angulata
	Natal Tree Nymph	Sevenia natalensis
	Pied Piper	Eurytela hiarbas angustata
	Spotted Joker	Byblia ilithyia
	Spotted Sailer	Neptis saclava marpessa
Diadems/Pansies	Blue Pansy	Junonia oenone oenone
	Brown Pansy	Junonia natalica natalica
	Clouded Mother-of-pearl	Protogoniomorpha anacardii nebulosa
	Common Diadem	Hypolimnas misippus
	Common Mother-of-Pearl	Protogoniomorpha parhassus
	Eyed Pansy	Junonia orithya madagascariensis
	Garden Inspector	Precis archesia archesia
	Painted Lady	Vanessa cardui
	Soldier Pansy	Junonia terea elgiva
	Variable Diadem	Hypolimnas anthedon wahlbergi
Buff	Spotted Buff	Pentila tropicalis tropicalis
Sapphires	Red-line Sapphire	Iolaus sidus
	Short-barred Sapphire	Iolaus aemulus
	Southern Sapphire	Iolaus silas
Blues	African Grass Blue	Zizeeria knysna
	Apricot Playboy	Deudorix dinochare
	Barker's Smoky Blue	Euchrysops barkeri
	Black Pie	Tuxentius melaena melaena
	Brown Playboy	Deudorix antalus
	Bush Bronze	Cacyreus lingeus
	Common Black-eye	Leptomyrina gorgias gorgias
	Common Blue group	Leptotes sp.
	Gaika Blue	Zizula hylax
	Geranium Bronze	Cacyreus marshalli
	Grass Jewel	Chilades trochylus
	Long-tailed Blue	Lampides boeticus
	Osiris Smoky Blue	Euchrysops osiris
	Purple-brown Hairstreak	Hypolycaena philippus philippus
	Rayed Blue	Actizera lucida
	Scarce Fig-tree Blue	Myrina dermaptera dermaptera
	Thorn-tree Blue	Azanus moriqua
	Twin-spot Blue	Lepidochrysops plebeia
Vagrants	Autumn-leaf Vagrant	Afrodryas leda
	Buquet's Vagrant/Green-eyed Monster	Nepheronia buquetii
	Vine-leaf Vagrant	Eronia cleodora
Tips	Coast Purple Tip	Colotis erone
	Smoky Orange Tip	Colotis euippe omphale
Whites	African Common White	Belenois creona severina
	African Migrant	Catopsilia florella
	African Wood White	Leptosia alcesta inalcesta
	Angled Grass Yellow	Eurema desjardinsii marshalli
	Ant-heap Small White	Dixeia pigea
	Broad-bordered Grass Yellow	Eurema brigitta brigitta
	Brown-veined White	Belenois aurota aurota
	Common Dotted Border	Mylothris agathina
	Common Grass Yellow	Eurema hecabe senegalensis
	Diverse White	Appias epaphia contracta
	False Dotted Border	Belenois thysa thysa
	Twin Dotted Border	Mylothris rueppellii haemus
Swallowtails	Citrus Swallowtail	Papilio demodocus demodocus
	Green-banded Swallowtail	Papilio nireus lyaeus
	Mocker Swallowtail	Papilio dardanus cenea
Skippers	Buff-tipped	Natrobalane canopus
	Clouded Flat	Tagiades flesus
	Common Hottentot Skipper	Gegenes niso niso
Elfins	Small Elfin	Sarangesa phidyle
Sylphs	Gold Spotted Sylph	Metisella metis paris
Darts	Macken's Dart	Acleros mackenii
Swifts	Long-horned Swift	Borbo fatuellus fatuellus

Plants

A Natal elm, showing its extensive buttressing, Pigeon Valley, May 2013

There are over 110 species of trees occurring in Pigeon Valley, almost all of which are locally indigenous.^[4] Pigeon Valley is also notable for large stands of buckweed (Isoglossa woodii), which grow in more open areas under the forest canopy and in forest glades. In recent years there have been a few discoveries of plants not previously identified.

Pigeon Valley is unique in having large numbers of the rare Natal elm, and of Natal forest loquat. A Cryptocarya specimen found adjacent to the main track has so far not been definitively identified; it may be a species seldom found in the area (C. liebertiana) or alternatively a hybrid (C. latifolia and C. woodii). Other uncommon flora include the little-known creepers Telosma africana and Vincetoxicum anomalum.

A spotted ground thrush in this urban reserve, where it is a winter visitor

Public access

The reserve is open from 07:30 to 16:00 daily throughout the year. The entrance is in Princess Alice Avenue, Glenwood, opposite Rhodes Avenue.

Community

An active grouping, Friends of Pigeon Valley, undertakes clearing of invasive alien plants, ensuring that the park is unusually free of alien species. It also liaises with management to ensure the biodiversity of the reserve and the wellbeing of visitors. It also liaises with the municipal managers of the reserve to address relevant issues. The Friends operate a monthly walk open to the public on the second Saturday of each month, at 07h30. There is a Facebook page, Friends of Pigeon Valley, at https://www.facebook.com/FriendsOfPigeonValley/.

See also

• Forests of KwaZulu-Natal