Microcarbo coronatus
Silhouette: L. Shyamal · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
The crowned cormorant (Microcarbo coronatus) or kuifkopduiker, 'Fringe-head diver', 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 found from Cape Agulhas north to Swakopmund along the coast of southern Africa. The population appears to be between 2500 and 2900 breeding pairs. It breeds in small groups, with fewer than 150 individuals per colony being typical. Ringing recoveries show that juveniles may disperse up to 277 km from their nests, and adults move between breeding sites over 500 km apart.
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.
Crowned cormorants feed on slow-moving fish and invertebrates, which they forage for in shallow coastal waters... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Coast National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 2 | Table Mountain National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 3 | De Hoop Nature Reserve | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cape Town | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Crowned Cormorant sighting in Cape Town on a given day, based on 170 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 109th most-seen of the 196 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 20%, if each day is a fresh chance.
December
In that month about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Crowned Cormorant in Cape Town on a given day, against under 5% in January to November, the lowest months. That is one of Cape Town's driest months, with about 20 mm of rain against 140 mm in June.
Between 1 and 4 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Crowned Cormorant sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Only Cape Town, in our data
Cape Town is the only city on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Crowned Cormorant sightings: under 5% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Crowned Cormorant is recorded against all the birds logged in Cape Town (170 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
