Microcarbo africanus
Silhouette: L. Shyamal · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
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 |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Long-tailed Cormorant sighting in Hwange National Park on a given day, based on 12 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 231st most-seen of the 308 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.
June
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Long-tailed Cormorant in Hwange National Park on a given day, against under 5% in July and September–May, the lowest months. That is one of Hwange National Park's driest months, with almost no rain against 150 mm in January.
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.
33rd of 40
Of the 40 parks where we can rate Long-tailed Cormorant sightings, Hwange National Park ranks 33rd at under 5%. The best odds are in Nairobi National Park (Kenya, about 50%), Pilanesberg National Park (South Africa, about 50%) and Chobe National Park (Botswana, about 50%). All parks ranked.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Long-tailed Cormorant is recorded against all the birds logged in Hwange National Park (12 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), 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.
