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Neotropic Cormorant

Phalacrocorax brasilianusOrder: PELECANIFORMESFamily: Cormorants (Phalacrocoracidae)

Neotropic Cormorant Portrait
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General

Neotropic Cormorant: Small, long-tailed cormorant. Black upper and lowerparts may show blue gloss. Yellow-gray bill with yellow "v" shaped gular pouch edged in white. Breeding adult shows short white plumes on sides of neck. Juvenile is more brown.

Range and Habitat

Neotropic Cormorant: Fairly common in U.S. range. Found primarily in Louisiana, Texas, and along the Rio Grande valley into New Mexico. Inhabits saltwater bays and inlets, and freshwater lakes and ponds.

Listen to Call

Voice Text

"r'rauh", "ruuh'aah"

Interesting Facts

 Unlike other cormorants, the Neotropic Cormorant can often be seen perching on wires.

 The northern populations are often called Mexican or Olivaceous Cormorants, and many authors treat these as a separate species, P. olivaceus.

 Those who say the entire population is a single species treat the northern birds as a subspecies Phalacrocorax brasilianus mexicanus and the southern birds as subspecies P. b. brasilianus.

 A group of cormorants has many collective nouns, including a "flight", "gulp", "rookery", "sunning", and "swim" of cormorants.



Author

Ashli Maruster Splitbar
Range Map for Neotropic Cormorant
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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.
Family Cormorant (Phalacrocoracidae)_blue
Species Phalacrocorax brasilianus
Length25 - 26 Inches
Wingspan40 Inches

Neotropic Cormorant

Neotropic Cormorant: Small, long-tailed cormorant. Black upper and lowerparts may show blue gloss. Long hooked yellow-gray bill with yellow "v" shaped gular pouch edged in white. Legs and feet are black. Feeds on fish, crustaceans and amphibians. Flies low over water with strong rapid wing beats.

● Song: "r'rauh", "ruuh'aah"

● Foraging & Feeding: Neotropic Cormorant: Feeds on variety of fish, frogs, tadpoles and other aquatic organisms. Dives in pursuit of prey from water's surface. The only cormorant known to occasionally plunge dive from above water's surface. Cooperative feeding has also been documented.

● Breeding & nesting: Neotropic Cormorant: Monogamous and colonial. Male chooses nest site and brings materials to female who builds nest in the fork of a tree, rarely on ground. Nest is made of sticks, twigs, grasses, and leaves. Both sexes incubate two to six pale blue eggs for 23 to 26 days and tend young who become independent around 11 weeks.

● Similar species: Neotropic Cormorant: Double-crested Cormorant is larger and heavier looking, has a shorter tail, a yellow-orange throat pouch, and a green sheen on head, neck, and underparts. Brandt's Cormorant is seen on the West Coast, has a shorter tail, and a blue throat pouch during breeding season.

Flight Pattern

Strong direct flight with powerful rapid wing beats.
Neotropic Cormorant Body Illustration
● Range & Habitat: Neotropic Cormorant: Fairly common in U.S. range. Found primarily in Louisiana, Texas, and along the Rio Grande valley into New Mexico. Inhabits saltwater bays and inlets, and freshwater lakes and ponds.
BreedingMonogamous, Colonial
PopulationCommon in range
MigrationMost do not migrate
Weight44.8 Ounces