Adults: General body plumage white with buff head and black primaries, secondaries and inner tail feathers. Prominant slate-grey stripe down the center of the throat and foreneck. Eye, light grey. Bill, blue-grey. Tail, black. Feet, black with yellow-green stripes on toes. Webs, brown.
Immatures: General body plumage irregular mixture of white and grey-brown with dark tail. Above, dusky, mottled white. Below, mainly white, greyish on neck.
Downy Young: Naked, then white-downed.
Other Scientific Names
Sula capensis [Dowsett and Forbes-Watson (1993)]
Other Names (World)
Cape Gannet, African Gannet, South African Gannet, Malagas, Malagash
Angola (B) (NB), Australia (B), Cameroon, Congo [The Democratic Republic of the], Congo [The Democratic Republic of the], Eastern Central Atlantic (NB), Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Mozambique (NB), Namibia (B), Nigeria, Sâo Tomé e Principe, South Africa (B) (NB), Southeast Atlantic (B) (NB), Tanzania [United Republic of] (NB), Western Indian Ocean (NB).
Vagrant to Argentina, Brazil (NB), Chile, Ghana, Oman, Peru.
Breeds coasts of South Africa and Namibia. Winters along African coasts, on west to Gulf of Guinea, on east to Mozambique, exceptionally to Kenya.
 
Population
Estimated population is 300,000 (2010) and decreasing.
Status EN
Predation by fur seals, and Great White Pelican (Pelecanus onocrotalus), longline fishing, nesting site degradation and nest flooding during storms are the main threats.
For more information see BirdLife International Species Factsheet.
Food
Fish.
Voice
A rasping 'arrah arrah' is the most common call at colonies. Usually silent at sea.
Cape Gannet (Morus capensis) [XC862033]
by Daniel Danckwerts from Cederberg Municipality (near Lambert's Bay), West Coast District Municipality, Western Cape, South Africa (call)
Cape Gannet (Morus capensis) [XC392575]
by Frank Lambert from Lambert's Bay, Western Cape, South Africa (call)
Nest
A mound with a cup-shaped depression at the centre, composed of guano, vegetation and other matter that can be scraped together. Where no such material is available, eggs are laid on bare ground.
Eggs (Guide)
1; initially bluish-white later becoming trodden and guano covered; 73 - 84 x 45 - 49 mm. Incubation: 40 - 43 days.
Subspecies
Sometimes considered subspecies of Northern Gannet (Morus bassanus). Also sometimes considered to form superspecies with Northern Gannet (Morus bassanus) and Australasian Gannet (Morus serrator).
The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Pizzey, G., and Knight, E., 1997, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 19691 5
Field Guide to Australian Birds Morecombe, M., 2000, Steve Parish Publishing Pty Ltd. ISBN 1 876282 10 X
Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Simpson, K., and Day, N., 1999, 6th Edition, Viking ISBN 0 670 87918 5
Reader's Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds 1988, 2nd Edition, Reader's Digest ISBN 0 949819 99 9
What Bird is That? 1984, Revised Edition, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 14846 5
Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds 1990 - , Oxford University Press, Melbourne ISBN 0 19 553244 9