White-breasted Cormorant

Hosts on Spekboom have recorded the White-breasted Cormorant at stays in or beside Goukamma Nature Reserve, Anysberg Nature Reserve, Rocherpan Nature Reserve, De Hoop Nature Reserve, Grootvadersbosch Nature Reserve and Kogelberg Nature Reserve and other reserves. A record means a host has seen it on the property or nearby, which makes these the places to base yourself; it is never a guarantee of a sighting on any given day.

The White-breasted Cormorant is most recorded in Western Cape (67% of records), KwaZulu-Natal (10% of records), Eastern Cape (8% of records), based on 4,461 iNaturalist observations. 55 places to stay on Spekboom in Western Cape have recorded the White-breasted Cormorant on site or nearby.

The White-breasted Cormorant is recorded throughout the year, so no month is the wrong month to look for it. For the parks where hosts record it most, these are the best seasons they give. Goukamma Nature Reserve: year-round, warm Oct-Apr; Anysberg Nature Reserve: Autumn and spring, Mar-May, Sep-Nov; Rocherpan Nature Reserve: Winter and spring for birds and flowers, Jun-Oct; De Hoop Nature Reserve: Sep-Apr, flowers Aug-Oct. In the dry months animals concentrate at water and the grass is short.

The white-breasted cormorant is much like the widespread great cormorant and if not a regional variant of the same species, is at least very closely related. It is distinguished from other forms of the great cormorant by its white breast and by the fact that subpopulations are freshwater birds.