Contact Us
SAFRING, FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology
University of Cape Town
Cape Town, 7701
South Africa
safring@birdmap.africa
- If you have found a numbered metal ring with a plastic cover, this likely belongs to escaped cage birds or racing pigeons. These records are not curated by this project and pigeon rings should be reported to SANPO.
- If you have found an injured bird, please contact your local vet or a bird rescue centre, eg: SANCCOB, SPCA, Vulpro
- If you have found a captive bred pet bird (eg. Parrot, budgie etc) please visit Parrot Alert (Lost & Found Parrot and Bird Reporting)
History of SAFRING
Bird ringing in South Africa started in 1948 when the Southern African Ornithological Society (SAOS) initiated a bird ringing scheme under the leadership of Dr EH Ashton. The first birds to be ringed were 31 Cape Vultures Gyps coprotheres, ringed on 1 August 1948 at Kranzberg by a team of birders and mountaineers. A year later one of these, ring C00086, was found near Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, the first recovery of a southern African bird ring.
Bird ringing was initially organized by an NGO, the Southern African Ornithological Society (SAOS). The ringing effort steadily increased and by the 1960s the cost and complexity of administering the scheme exceeded the resources of the SAOS. The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) coordinated a deal whereby the four provincial conservation departments became the major sponsors of the National Unit for Bird Ringing Administration (NUBRA) in 1971, based at the University of Cape Town.
In 1991, the unit became part of the Avian Demography Unit (ADU) within the Department of Statistical Sciences at the University of Cape Town. The ADU later evolved into the Animal Demography Unit and, in January 2008, it moved to the Department of Zoology. In 2018, following the closure of the ADU, SAFRING was relocated to its current home under the management of the FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, a research unit within the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Cape Town.
A/Prof Robert Thomson
SAFRING Coordinator
Robert has a broad interest in bird ecology, but is especially interested in between-species interactions. He comes from Pretoria, and grew up birding and ringing in the bushveld areas. He did his undergraduate studies at the University of Pretoria, studying mixed species bird flocks for his BSc Hons. These studies led to him being a field assistant in northern Finland. This stint became his MSc thesis at the University of Oulu, which tested the heterospecific attraction hypothesis that migrant songbirds attract to resident songbirds during their habitat selection decisions. He continued with his PhD in Oulu, further investigating the positive associations in Boreal bird communities, but incorporating the interplay of negative, predation and competition, interactions. He defended his thesis in 2006, and moved to southern Finland to take up a post-doc position at the University of Turku investigating various aspects of raptors and their impact on songbird community structure.
Contact: robert.thomson@uct.ac.za
Dr Sally Hofmeyr
Scientific officer
Sally has been working mainly as a freelance academic editor since 2016, but in 2018 she joined the Fitzpatrick Institute on an ad hoc basis as a field technician on the Red-winged Starling Project on campus, catching and colour-ringing the birds to find out how far they range and investigate the dynamics of this special campus population. In 2023 she joined the Fitz formally as interim course convenor for the Conservation Biology Master's course until December 2024. She is now helping to coordinate three of the Fitz’s long-term ongoing citizen science research projects: SAFRING, CAR and CWAC.
Contact: safring@birdmap.africa
Ms Janine Dunlop
Data manager and Sales
Janine joined the University in 1994 and has worked in libraries for most of her UCT career. As Niven Librarian, she is responsible for developing the library collection, providing an information retrieval and dissemination service to researchers at UCT and the wider public, and ensuring data from student projects are safely archived and if necessary, made accessible. She is also responsible for capturing the department’s publication count data and she performs some of the administrative functions for the South African Bird Ringing Unit (SAFRING), such as orders and data requests.
Contact: safring@birdmap.africa
Ms Leandre Phigeland
Intern, social media, and data admin
Leandre Phigeland joined SAFRING as an intern in May 2025, focusing on both social media marketing and data administration. Her role in data administration involves managing and analyzing the data collected through bird ringing activities, ensuring accuracy and accessibility. Leandre's main objective is to connect the field of bird ringing with a diverse audience, that included not only academics and students, but also the general public. She is passionate about making ornithology accessible and engaging for everyone. Through innovative social media content, she aims to spark curiosity and a deeper appreciation for bird conservation, motivating communities to connect with the work of SAFRING.
Mr Michael Brooks
Data and systems development; systems management
Michael is the Chief Technical Offier at the FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, where he is responsible for all the management and information systems development for SABAP2 and the African Bird Atlas Project, as well as various other monitoring projects hosted at the Fitz. He is an avid photographer, and is a registered bird-ringer
Contact: michael.brooks@uct.ac.za
Contact: +27 21 650 4751
