Cape Cormorant

Fascinating facts about the Cape Cormorant

• A colony of about 57,000 breeding pairs nests along Namibia’s coast, making the Cape cormorant one of the region’s most concentrated seabird gatherings. Those numbers flash into focus because each pair relies on a steady stream of anchovies and sardines that drift up from the Benguela Upwelling. When those fish slip south, the whole colony can tumble, showing how tightly a single fish species can tether a bird population.
• When diving for food, Cape cormorants plunge to depths between 5 m and 34 m and spend roughly 5.5 hours each day underwater. Their dives last from 10 to 70 seconds, a rhythm that lets a flock of birds sweep a 20 km radius around their nests for hungry chicks. This tight foraging loop reveals how their survival hinges on staying close to home, unlike many seabirds that trek hundreds of kilometres.
• During the breeding season, males announce a courtship with a low-pitched cluck that females answer with a rapid “gra-gra-gra…”. Once paired, the male drops the cluck and uses a voice similar to the female’s.
• The Cape cormorant’s wings span about 260 mm, and both sexes share the same size, 61–64 cm long and 1.1–1.3 kg in weight, showing little visual cue to tell mates apart.
• Artificial guano platforms erected for economic reasons have become safe roosting havens, keeping predators like black-backed jackals at bay while exposing chicks to new threats from great white pelicans, kelp gulls, and Cape fur seals. These mixed outcomes illustrate how human structures can both rescue and endanger wildlife, reminding us to weigh unintended side effects in conservation design.

At a glance

About the Cape Cormorant

The Cape cormorant (Phalacrocorax capensis) glistens in a uniform blue-black sheen, its dark grey-black beak tipped by a vivid yellow-orange gular pouch. Both sexes measure 61–64 cm, weigh 1.1–1.3 kg and share turquoise eyes framed by a subtle greenish ring, while the wings of breeding adults flash a bottle-green hue and span roughly 260 mm. Endemic to the southwestern African coast, these birds nest in dense colonies on remote islands, cliffs, guano platforms and wide beaches, staying close to the nutrient-rich Benguela Upwelling System. Their foraging style is quintessentially cormorant: foot-propelled dives from 5 m to 34 m deep, lasting 10–70 seconds, and a daily dive budget of about 5.5 hours. In flocks they pursue pelagic schools of anchovies, pilchards, sardines and mackerel, typically within 20 km of their breeding sites. A surprising trait is their vocal repertoire: adults produce five distinct calls for flight, courtship, maintenance, feeding and threat, with males offering a low-pitched cluck during courtship that gives way to the female’s “gra-gra-gra-…” once the pair bonds. Their breeding season stretches from August to May, peaking between October and February, and a clutch usually contains three eggs, though numbers can range from one to five.

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