Long-Tailed Cormorant
Microcarbo africanus
Also known as: Reed Cormorant
About This Species
This small African cormorant frequents lakes, rivers, estuaries and coastal lagoons across sub-Saharan Africa, often perching on snags, rocks or moored boats with wings spread wide to dry after diving. It hunts by pursuit-diving for small fish and can be told from larger cormorants by its compact size and stubby yellow bill. It is present year-round in most of its range, so any calm stretch of open water with nearby perches is worth checking.
Ethical Viewing Guidelines
- Keep a reasonable distance, particularly from birds drying their wings or attending a nest, since flushing a wet or nesting bird costs it valuable energy.
- Wildlife protection law varies considerably across the many African countries it inhabits, so check local regulations rather than assuming a single rule applies everywhere.
- As a general principle, watch from a position that does not force the bird to move, and use optics rather than closing the distance.
LCAvesSuliformesPhalacrocoracidae
Seasonal Activity
318,510 sightings · 2000–2026
Citizen science records via GBIF
All monthsThis month
Classification
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Suliformes
- Family
- Phalacrocoracidae
Photo
(c) Lawrence Boatwright, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Lawrence Boatwright
CC-BY-NC-4.0
Occurrence data from GBIF.