Scientific name: Phalacrocorax capensis
The Cape cormorant is an almost entirely glossy black bird, though in breeding condition it has a purplish tinge and a few white plumes on head, neck, and cloacal areas. Its gular skin is a deep orangey yellow; unusually for a cormorant, its lores are feathered. The bird's wing is about 240–280 mm in extent, and it weighs 800–1600 grams, with little sexual dimorphism.
Near-endemic to southern Africa, occurring along the coast of Angola, Namibia, and the west coast of South Africa; it becomes increasingly scarce as you travel east up the South-African coastline. It generally prefers estuaries and coastal lagoons, roosting at areas with good protection from predators, such as islands in wetlands or open beaches with good visibility.
It mainly eats fish, doing most of its foraging in large flocks 10-20 km offshore, although it rarely travels up to 80 km away from land. It catches prey by diving from the water surface and giving chase, often resting at sea between foraging bouts, unlike most other cormorants. This is because it is more buoyant and has denser foliage, which does not get waterlogged. Its jaw is adapted to handling small, fast-moving fish, so flocks often focus on large shoals of this type.
