Microcarbo africanus
Silhouette: L. Shyamal · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~60%
The reed cormorant (Microcarbo africanus), also known as the long-tailed cormorant, is a bird in the cormorant family Phalacrocoracidae. It breeds in much of Africa south of the Sahara, and Madagascar. It is resident but undertakes some seasonal movements.
The reed cormorant was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae. He placed it in the genus Pelecanus and coined the binomial name Pelecanus africanus. Gmelin based his description on the "African shag" that had been described in 1785 by the English ornithologist John Latham in his book A General Synopsis of Birds. The reed cormorant is now one of five small cormorants placed in the genus Microcarbo that was introduced in 1856 by the French naturalist Charles Lucien Bonaparte.
Two subspecies are recognised: It is mainly black, glossed green, in the breeding season... Wikipedia →
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Zanzibar City | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 2 | Accra | 🇬🇭 Ghana | |
| 3 | Brazzaville | 🇨🇬 Republic of the Congo | |
| 4 | Abuja | 🇳🇬 Nigeria | |
| 5 | Mombasa | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 6 | Dakar | 🇸🇳 Senegal | |
| 7 | Kampala | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 8 | N'Djamena | 🇹🇩 Chad | |
| 9 | Lagos | 🇳🇬 Nigeria | |
| 10 | Dar es-Salaam | 🇹🇿 Tanzania |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Long-tailed Cormorant sighting in Durban on a given day, based on 127 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 62nd most-seen of the 219 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 60%, if each day is a fresh chance.
October and December
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Long-tailed Cormorant in Durban on a given day, against about 10% in January–September and November, the lowest months. Those are among Durban's wettest months, with about 180 mm of rain a month against 25 mm in June.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Long-tailed Cormorant sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
22nd of 28
Of the 28 cities where we can rate Long-tailed Cormorant sightings, Durban ranks 22nd at about 10%. The best odds are in Zanzibar City (Tanzania, about 60%), Accra (Ghana, about 60%) and Brazzaville (Republic of the Congo, about 60%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Long-tailed Cormorant is recorded against all the birds logged in Durban (127 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.
