Bank Cormorant
Phalacrocorax neglectus
A medium-to-large-sized, stocky, marine cormorant that is a specialist in kelp forests of the Benguela Current, where it is scarce resident. Similar to Cape Cormorant but slightly larger and thicker-necked. Adults have a black (not orange) throat patch and honey-brown (not blue) eyes, giving them a plain-looking face. If seen well, the head is flattish with an indistinct crest that more often manifests as a bulbous forehead. In flight, it is difficult to tell from the abundant Cape Cormorant unless the characteristic white back--most prevalent in the breeding season (but absent in some individuals)--is seen. Immatures are duller but retain the adult’s characteristic shape. Best seen at roosts.
Identification
The bank cormorant is a heavy-bodied bird, roughly 75 cm in length. It is generally black in appearance with a bronze sheen, though the wings are a dark brown rather than a true black. Adults have a small crest on their heads, and normally have a white rump. Pale eyes in an all black face are considered to be distinctive for adults, with immature birds having dark eyes.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Phalacrocorax neglectus
- Authority
- (Wahlberg, 1855)
- Order
- Suliformes
- Family
- Phalacrocoracidae
- Genus
- Phalacrocorax
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
A prime food for these birds is the cape rock lobster Jasus lalandii, and their feeding distribution closely matches the kelp beds where these lobsters live, though the birds will also take a variety of other crustacean and fish prey, notably bearded goby Sufflogobius bibarbatus.<p>The birds may breed at any time of the year, laying two or three chalky-white eggs in a nest constructed from seaweed and guano.
Conservation
Numbers of these birds have been declining sharply in recent decades, partly because of commercial fishing for bearded goby, partly because of increasing human disturbance, and partly because numbers of kelp gulls have been increasing because of human provisioning, and the gulls are active predators on the cormorant eggs and chicks. The world population is probably now around 4,000 birds. The most important population centres are in Mercury Island and Ichaboe Island in Namibia.
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
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