Great Cormorant

Phalacrocorax carbo lucidus

Ornithologist believe the White-Breasted Cormorant is a sub-species of the Great Cormorant. It is the only form that lives in sub-Saharan Africa. I met this bird during a visit with relatives in Zimbabwe (Africa), but did not get a picture. I collected the image below at a zoo in San Diego (California).

Depending on which source, there are either six or eight subspecies of Great Cormorant:

• P. c. carbo breeds coastally on both sides of the North Atlantic.
• P. c. sinensis ranges throughout Eurasia, nesting in fresh-water habitats and along the coast, from Netherlands, Denmark, and around Baltic Sea south to Mediterranean and Black Seas and east to southern India, Sri Lanka, and into Korea and China. Many populations are migratory, wintering in fresh water and coastally from Mediterranean Sea to southeastern Asia.
• P. c. hanedae lives in the Sea of Japan.
• P. c. novaehollandiae breeds in Australia and New Zealand.
• P. c. maroccanus lives on the coast of northwestern Africa.
• P. c. lucidus (common name of White-Breasted Cormorant) lives in sub-Saharan Africa.