White Breasted Cormorant
Phalacrocoraxcarbolucidus
Photographed at Toronto Zoo, Toronto Canada Sep 2011
Largest African Cormorant 85-95 cm, the White-breasted Cormorant is the only form of the Great Cormorant found in sub-Saharan Africa. A fish and frog eater with a white throat and breast - yellow at base of throat. The white-breasted cormorant is able to swallow larger than the normal diameter of its neck because a unique musculature of the neck allows it to stretch out.
The throat, or
gular pouch, is also used as a signaling device and as a means for cooling the
body. By panting and fluttering the gular pouch, blood passing through the rich
concentration of capillaries is rapidly cooled.
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