Scientific name: Phalacrocorax coronatus
The crowned cormorant is 50–55 cm in length. Adults are black with a small crest on the head and a red face patch. Young birds are dark brown above, paler brown below, and lack the crest. They can be distinguished from immature reed cormorants by their darker underparts and shorter tail.
The crowned cormorant is a small cormorant that is endemic to the waters of the cold Benguela Current of southern Africa. It is an exclusively coastal species and is not found more than 10 km (6 mi) away from land. This species is related to the reed cormorant, and was formerly considered to the same species. It is occurring in rocky areas of the coastline and on offshore islands, while large absent from freshwater habitats.
It mainly eats klipfish, doing most of it foraging in rock pools and in the breaking waves, pursuing its prey underwater in bouts of roughly 7-59 seconds. Its jaw is adapted to handling slow-moving, bottom-dwelling fish, as it struggles to catch more fast moving prey
