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Great Cormorant

Great Cormorant

Phalacrocorax carbo

Identify the Great Cormorant by sound or photo and log your sightings with Birdpass.

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The Great Cormorant is a large, dark waterbird widespread across Europe, Asia, Africa, Australasia and the Atlantic coast of North America. It lives on coasts, estuaries, lakes and rivers, diving to catch fish, and often perches with wings spread to dry. Adults are black with a bronzy-green sheen and green eyes; breeding birds show white on the head and a white thigh patch. Northern birds move south in winter.

Did you know?

  • Its feathers are not waterproof, which reduces buoyancy for diving.
  • All four of its toes are joined by webbing.

Voice

Call

About the species

Identification

A large, mostly black waterbird with a long, heavy bill, a long tail and a thick, long neck; in flight it looks goose-like. In breeding plumage it has white on the head and a large white thigh patch; the throat patch is yellow bordered with white. Young birds are dark brown with clearly paler underparts. It is told from Shag by its larger size, heavier bill and lack of a crest.

Family

Phalacrocoracidae

Size

Very large (swan)

Colours

black, white, yellow

About the habitat

Coasts, rocky islets, estuaries and large lakes and rivers with good fishing.

Diet

Mainly fish caught by underwater pursuit, often bottom-living species; in winter it often takes larger fish. Occasionally crustaceans and amphibians.

Behaviour

Dives from the surface and chases fish underwater with powerful kicks of its fully webbed feet, surfacing to swallow prey. Its feathers get wet, and it spreads its wings to dry them. It roosts communally and nests in dense colonies in trees, on cliffs or on predator-free rocky islets, where its droppings whiten the rocks and trees. It lays three to five eggs, incubated for about a month. It flies with steady wingbeats, often in lines or V-formations.

Sources

Photo: MPF, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2021-05-05 Phalacrocorax carbo carbo, Killingworth Lake, Northumberland 1-1.jpg

Sound: Sonothèque ADVL, XC1059525, CC0 1.0 https://xeno-canto.org/1059525

Text: Wikipedia (English) + FinBIF species descriptions, CC BY-SA 4.0; FinBIF: CC BY 4.0 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_cormorant

See also