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Alternative Names:
English (Rob 6): Whitebreasted Cormorant
English (Rob 7): White-breasted Cormorant
English: Great Cormorant
Scientific: Phalacrocorax carbo
German: Weißbrustkormoran
French: Cormoran à poitrine blanche
Indigenous: iWonde(Z),Ugwidi(X),Nkororo(K),Ngulukwani(Ts),Timêlêtsane(Tw),Scientific Explained:
phalacrocorax: Greek phalakros, bald; korax, a crow or raven.
Measurements: Length about 90 cm; wingspan about 150 cm; wing (10) 304-325-350; tail 125-139,4-148; tarsus 48-53,3-61; culmen 60-65,5-70. Weight (6) 1O39-1616-2229 g.
Bare Parts: Iris green; bill black above, tan below shading to black at tip; skin on lores yellow; gular pouch dark green; legs and feet black.
Identification: Size large; above black with greenish gloss; white from chin to upper belly (extent of white somewhat variable); rest of underparts black; breeding birds usually have white thigh patches; nonbreeding adults browner, and lack white thigh patches. Immature: Dark brown above, off-white below. Chick: Naked black, then with sooty black down.
Voice: Usually silent; at breeding colony guttural grunts, growls and hisses.
Distribution: Throughout s Africa; also most of Africa s of Sahara, Europe, c and s Asia, Australasia, e N America.
Status: Common resident.
Habitat: Marine and inland waters, usually larger dams and pans.
Habits: Solitary or gregarious. Sits erect when perched. Often flies low over water at speeds of up to 60 km/h. Swims with body partly submerged when alarmed.
Food: Mainly fish; also frogs, crustaceans and molluscs.
Breeding: Season: Variable, April to October in KwaZulu-Natal, May to June in Transvaal, February to October in Zimbabwe; may breed throughout year. Nest: Coarse stick platform in tree, on cliffs or on ground or rocky islands, in more or less dense colonies of a few to hundreds of nests; becomes covered with guano; often re-used year after year. Clutch: (60) 2-3,1-4 eggs. Eggs: Pale greenish blue overlain with chalky white, somewhat elongate; measure (134) 63 x 39,7 (52-70,7 x 32,4-42,2); weigh (81) 36-54-64 g. Incubation: 27-28 days by both sexes. Nestling: about 53 days, cared for by both parents. If disturbed, young may leave nest at 28 days. Chicks weigh at hatching (32) 32-38-47 g.
Ref. Brooke, R.K., Cooper, J., Shelton, P.A. Crawford, R.J.M. 1982. Gerfaut 72:188-220.
Olver, M.D. Kuyper, M.A. 1978. Ostrich 49:25-30.
En
Alternative Names:
English (Rob 6): Cape Cormorant
English (Rob 7): Cape Cormorant
German: Kapkormoran
French: Cormoran du Cap
Indigenous: Ugwidi(X),Scientific Explained:
capense/capensis: Modern Latin, of the Cape.
phalacrocorax: Greek phalakros, bald; korax, a crow or raven.
Measurements: Length 61-64 cm; wingspan 109 cm; wing (10) 245-253,5-275; tail 86-95,3-100; tarsus 56-58,7-63; culmen 50,4-53,8-56,4. Weight male mean 1306 g, female mean 1155 g.
Bare Parts: Iris turquoise; eyelids with bright blue beads; face and gular skin bright orange-yellow; bill, legs and feet black.
Identification: Size medium; all black with markedly short tail; throat yellow; bill relatively slender and long. Immature: Brown; no yellow on throat until 2nd year; proportions as for adult. Chick: Naked black with pink bill and feet; later downy blackish.
Voice: Usually silent; at breeding colonies clucks and croaks.
Distribution: Marine, from Congo River mouth to s Mozambique.
Status: Abundant on W coast, less common on E coast; highly nomadic, but some present all year round off SW Cape. Red data book status globally (and in S Africa): Near-threatened.
Habitat: Coastal waters usually within 10 km of shore; also brackish estuaries.
Habits: Highly gregarious. Flies in long undulating lines low over sea; flight speed up to 75 km/h. Settles in large flocks to feed, diving from surface and submerging for up to 30 seconds. Roosts in large numbers on islands or guano platforms.
Food: Fish (mainly anchovies, pilchards, maasbankers); off Namibia mostly Pelagic Goby Sufflogobius bibarbatus 45-50 mm long, 1,7 g mean weight; also occasionally crustaceans, mussels, cephalopods.
Breeding: Localities: Offshore islands from Namibia to Algoa Bay, or guano platforms off Namibian coast. Season: Throughout year, but mainly September to March with peak September-October. Nest: Shallow bowl of sticks and seaweed on rocky islands or floor of guano platform, in dense colonies. Clutch: (1626) 1-2,4-5 eggs, usually 2-3. Eggs: Chalky white, long ovals, measure (210) 54,5 x 35,5 (47-61 x 32-38), weigh (14) 31-37-42 g. Incubation: 22-23 days, by both sexes. Nestling: About 9 weeks to flying age, but still dependent on parents for food for several weeks; chick weighs 24-31 g at hatching.
Ref. Berry, H.H. 1976. Madoqua 9(4):5-55.
Cooper, J., Brooke, R.K., Shelton, P.A. Crawford, R.J.M. 1982. Fish. Bull. S. Afr. 16:121-143.
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