Cape Cormorant

The Cape Cormorant is a medium-sized, entirely glossy black seabird endemic to the coastal waters of Namibia and South Africa. In breeding condition its plumage takes on an oily bottle-green sheen, and the bare skin at the base of the bill turns a bright orange-yellow. It is a highly gregarious species, famous for forming enormous, dense breeding and roosting colonies numbering in the tens of thousands.

Populations have declined sharply in recent decades due to collapses in the small pelagic fish stocks it depends on, leading to its listing as Endangered.

Key field marks

• All-black glossy plumage with green sheen in breeding season
• Slim, elongated bill
• Bright orange-yellow throat patch and gular skin
• Dense flocks flying low over the sea in long skeins

Similar species

• Bank Cormorant is stockier and darker with less obvious throat color.
• Crowned Cormorant is much smaller.
• White-breasted Cormorant (Great Cormorant) has a white throat and breast, unlike the all-dark Cape Cormorant.

Habitat

Strictly marine, favoring cold, productive coastal waters over the Benguela upwelling system, offshore islands, and rocky coastlines for breeding.

Range

Endemic to the coasts of Namibia and South Africa.

Migration

Mostly sedentary but disperses locally along the coast in response to shifting fish shoals.

Behavior

Extremely social, roosting and breeding in vast dense colonies, and often seen in long, low-flying flocks skimming just above the ocean surface.

Voice

Generally silent at sea; gives harsh croaking calls at breeding colonies.

Feeding

Feeds on schooling fish such as anchovy and sardine, caught by pursuit-diving, sometimes hunting cooperatively in large flocks.

Nesting

Breeds in dense colonies on offshore islands and coastal cliffs, building a simple nest of seaweed and guano; typically lays 2-3 pale blue eggs.