Phalacrocorax capensis
The Cape Cormorant (Phalacrocorax capensis) is a sleek, medium-sized marine bird characterized by its striking metallic green to bronze-black plumage, which shimmers in sunlight. Adults typically measure 61-64 cm in length, with a wingspan of approximately 109-122 cm and weighing between 1.1-1.3 kg, making it a relatively slender member of its family. A key identification feature is its vivid orange-yellow gular pouch, which becomes more intense during the breeding season, contrasting sharply...
Exclusively coastal and marine, inhabiting rocky shores, offshore islands, and estuaries along the southwestern African coast, preferring waters rich in small schooling fish.
Primarily consumes small schooling pelagic fish, such as sardines (Sardinops sagax) and anchovies (Engraulis encrasicolus), caught by pursuit-diving.
Cape Cormorants are highly social and diurnal, forming immense roosting and breeding colonies on cliff ledges and flat offshore islands, often numbering in the tens of thousands. Their primary foraging strategy involves pursuit-diving, where they tirelessly chase schooling fish underwater, propel...
The Cape Cormorant is strictly restricted to the cold, nutrient-rich waters of the Benguela Current, ranging along the southwestern coast of Africa. Its primary breeding grounds are located on offshore islands and rocky outcrops from central Namibia southwards along the coast of South Africa to t...
Critically Endangered
- Cape Cormorants are sometimes called 'guano birds' due to their historical importance as a major producer of guano, a valuable fertilizer. - They are one of the few bird species entirely endemic to the highly productive but vulnerable Benguela Current Large Marine Ecosystem. - These cormorants ...