Reed Cormorant

Fascinating facts about the Reed Cormorant

• A reed cormorant can stretch up to 55 cm long, about the length of a school ruler, while its wings span nearly a meter, 80 to 90 cm, comparable to a small dining table. two to four eggs per clutch.
• First described in 1789, the reed cormorant was placed by Johann Friedrich Gmelin in the genus Pelecanus before being moved to Microcarbo, a genus created in 1856.
• Two subspecies of reed cormorant split the continent: M. a. africanus roams inland and coastal Sub-Saharan Africa, while M. a. pictilis lives mainly on Madagascar's western side.
• When breeding, the reed cormorant dons a glossy green-tinged black plumage, with silvery wing coverts that flash like tiny mirrors in the sun. while it fishes in shallow waters for small, slow-moving fish such as mormyrids and catfishes.
• Although it can dive to considerable depths, the reed cormorant usually feeds in shallow water, pulling up prey like small, slow-moving fish with long, tapering bodies, mormyrids, catfishes, and cichlids.

Sources

Every fact above was checked against these pages, and kept only where one of them states it.

• Wikipedia

At a glance

About the Reed Cormorant

As the golden light of dawn breaks over the tranquil waters, the Reed Cormorant emerges, its sleek, dark silhouette slicing effortlessly through the reeds, a master of stealth and patience. With each deliberate stroke of its powerful neck, it probes the depths, seeking the unsuspecting fish that will become its next meal, its piercing gaze scanning the murky shallows with an unyielding intensity. In this serene and mystical world, the Reed Cormorant reigns supreme, a phantom of the wetlands, its very presence a testament to the enduring beauty of the natural world.

Reed Cormorant photographed on Feravox

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