The story of the club now known as BirdLife Northern Gauteng began in October 1949, when a Northern Transvaal branch of the South African Ornithological Society (SAOS) was founded in Pretoria. It was known as the Pretoria Bird Club. One of the club's earliest projects was to propose and raise funds for the establishment of a bird sanctuary at Muckleneuk brickfields. The Austin Roberts Bird Sanctuary was opened in 1956, named for the pioneering ornithologist who had lived nearby and often watched birds there.