Reed cormorant (long-tailed cormorant)

How it lives

It lives on freshwater lakes, slow streams, flooded areas and quiet vegetated coasts. It nests in colonies, often alongside other waterbirds, in trees or hidden in long grass. A clutch is usually 2 to 4 eggs. One source gives incubation of 23 to 24 days and fledging 28 to 35 days after hatching. Birds first breed at about 2.5 years. The average lifespan is about 5.7 years and the oldest recorded bird was 13.2 years.

Where it goes

Mostly resident. Birds make irregular, local movements that follow changes in water level rather than a true migration. Some sources also describe seasonal movements. Sources I read do not describe set routes.

We only draw a journey on the map when scientists have tracked it or clearly documented it. For this animal we have not found one yet.

Populations

Found across Africa south of the Sahara and in Madagascar. BirdLife International's 2024 estimate, as listed on Wikipedia, is 134,000 to 802,000 birds with a steady trend. One other source calls the trend declining. It has benefited from dams and is sometimes persecuted in southern Africa. There are no population figures by country in the sources I read.