Abstract:
The Cape Gannet Morus capensis is endemic to southern Africa,
where the species typically displays high levels of nest-site fidelity
to its breeding colonies (Crawford 2005). At Mkambati Nature
Reserve, in June 2014, we recorded a dead Cape Gannet that had
been ringed as a juvenile at Lambert’s Bay, ~1 500 km away, in
1991. Following initial banding, it had been recaptured multiple
times at the ringing location until 2000. Our observation therefore
may provide evidence for long-distance dispersal that took place
after an extended period of high site fidelity. We speculate that this
dispersal may have been caused by seal-related disturbance at the
Lambert’s Bay colony or by prey distribution changes or both.
