Great Cormorant - Phalacrocorax carbo

Great Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo)

Cormorant in breeding plumage, Gosford Bay, East Lothian, Scotland, June 2002 - click for larger image

The Great Cormorant is found in suitable habitat throughout most of Europe, Asia, in Australia and New Zealand and in eastern North America.

It is found on coasts and on lakes, swamps, rivers and other aquatic habitats whether salt or fresh water.

Cormorant, Aberlady Bay, East Lothian, Scotland, June 2002 - click for larger image

It is black with a bluish-green gloss and a tinge of bronze on the wings. The bare skin at the base of the mandible is yellow surrounded by white. This looks clearer during the breeding season when the plumage also acquires a white thigh patch as can be seen in photos 1 and 7. In photo 1 the bird is holding out its wings to dry after a session of fishing.

Cormorant, Aberlady Bay, East Lothian, Scotland, September 2002 - click for larger image

Photos 1 to 4 show the nominate sub-species found in Britain, Norway, Iceland and eastern North America.

Photos 5 to 7, taken in Bhutan show the sub-species P. c. sinensis found from central Europe eastwards to China and India. These birds are in breeding plumage and show more white on the throat and more white filoplumes on the neck than the nominate sub-species does in breeding plumage..

Cormorant, Gosford Bay, East Lothian, Scotland, June 2005 - click for larger image

It feeds on fish and the nominate species in particular is regarded as a pest by many anglers particularly where it congregates in large numbers on inland waters.

There are recordings on xeno-canto and additional information is available via Avibase.

Great Cormorant, Thimphu, Bhutan, March 2008 - click for larger image

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