Willem is a wildlife artist based in South Africa. He says "My aim is simply to express the beauty and wonder that is in Nature, and to heighten people's appreciation of plants, animals and the wilderness. Not everything I paint is African! Though I've never been there, I'm also fascinated by Asia and I've done paintings of Asian rhinos and birds as well. I may in future do some of European, Australian and American species too. I'm fascinated by wild things from all over the world! I mainly paint in watercolours. . . but actually many media including 'digital' paintings with the computer!"

Here I have for you one of Africa's commonest aquatic birds, the Reed Cormorant, Phalacrocorax africanus. The species is found all over sub-Saharan Africa, wherever suitable bodies of water are present. It also occurs in Madagascar. It is much smaller than the White-breasted Cormorant, the only other African cormorant species that is found in the continental interior rather than along the seashore. Nevertheless, these two species can indeed be found along the seaside at times – only, the other species are never found inland. The name 'cormorant' comes from the Latin 'corvus marinus' which means 'sea crow'. These birds were believed to be relatives of crows until scientists actually began studying them anatomically. Today we know that they are indeed very distantly related to crows, instead being much closer relatives of darters, gannets, and perhaps pelicans and penguins. They are at any rate nowhere near the songbirds, the group to which crows and ravens belong.

As a whole, cormorants are easy to recognize. Most are very dark in colour, often glossy black; some grey or brown, and several species have areas of white plumage. Many have crests, more prominent in the breeding season, giving them the alternative name of 'Shags'. Many also have brightly coloured eyes and bright areas of naked skin on their faces and throats, these also becoming more prominent when breeding. Cormorants all dive to catch fish and other creatures underwater. They have short to longish bills with sharp, hooked tips. They have webbed feet – the webbing connecting all four of their toes rather than just three as in ducks. To enable them to dive, cormorants have feathers that absorb water. If the feathers didn't, they would float on top of the water like corks and would have to expend great energy to get and keep themselves submerged. Cormorants can dive to depths of 45 m/150'. (It is very unlikely that the reed cormorant can dive as deep as this, though, since it feeds in mostly shallow freshwater bodies.) After their dives, they spend lots of times sitting on rocks, or tree stumps, with their wings spread out and facing the sun, to dry their feathers out again – otherwise they would not be able to fly! (Strangely enough there is one species in the Galapagos Islands that is in fact flightless, like a penguin … but it, too, suns its short little wings after diving!)

Cormorants and Humans

Cormorants are considered exemplars of gluttony. They have flexible throats that can expand greatly, and will swallow comparatively large fishes whole. In some places, from Greece to Japan, there is a tradition that exploits this. Cormorants are caught, tamed and trained to fish! A loop of string is tied around the bird's lower neck. There is enough slack in the loop so that the cormorant can still swallow a small fish, but the loop will prevent it from swallowing a big fish. Instead, the fisherman will remove the fish when the cormorant surfaces and returns to his raft. This method of fishing is not much used any more, but upheld as a tradition in a few places.

Probably of much greater importance to the human economy is the guano produced by Peruvian cormorants. These live on barren islands just offshore from the western edge of the South American continent. The cold sea currents that cause the arid climate are rich in oxygen and wash nutrients up from the sea bottom, thereby sustaining a rich oceanic ecology, including vast shoals of fish. The cormorants feed on these, their numbers fluctuating wildly from year to year as different climatic conditions affect the marine productivity. On the islands where the cormorants breed, huge deposits of their droppings form. This is harvested by humans for use as fertilizers.

A Modest Little Cormorant

The Reed Cormorant is one of the humblest of the cormorant species. At a length of about 50-60 cm/20-24" it is one of the smallest. It is dark brown most of the time, but when breeding, its plumage becomes glossy black and its crest grows a bit longer. Most of the time it is seen singly, perched on a branch overhanging the water or an emergent stump. It goes about its business quietly and unobtrusively, catching small fish, frogs and crustaceans. These cormorants have been seen forming flocks and associating with other birds such as spoonbills and pelicans in areas where feeding was good. But mostly they only gather in substantial flocks when they breed. Good venues for breeding are small islands formed in rivers, lakes or ponds, where they have some safety from predators. They can breed in trees, reedbeds, or rocks. Their nests are platforms built from reeds, twigs and other vegetable matter. The male and female communicate with croaking and hissing calls at the nest. The female lays two to five eggs on top of the nest platform. The chicks are rather ugly, naked and leathery with disproportionally big heads and thick bills. Their parents feed them by regurgitating fish down their throats. Even while still young, the chicks are able to dive, usually doing this to hide underwater at the approach of a possible predator.

Reed cormorants have actually benefited from human activity, making use of the innumerable ponds and dams created by farmers. Although they are more widespread today than ever before, they do have a vulnerability, being affected badly by poisons and pollutants in water. They can be seen as an indicator species for water purity. This is valuable since we, too, need unpolluted water.

Colours of Wildlife Archive

Willem

14.07.14 Front Page

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