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Brandt's Cormorant

Phalacrocorax penicillatusOrder: PELECANIFORMESFamily: Cormorants (Phalacrocoracidae)

Brandt's Cormorant Portrait
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General

Brandt's Cormorant: Medium-sized, crestless cormorant with dull black body. Face and back have slender white plumes. Throat pouch is bright blue bordered with yellow. Winter adult lacks blue throat pouch. Juvenile is dark brown above, paler below.

Range and Habitat

Brandt's Cormorant: Resident along Pacific coast from southeastern Alaska south to Baja California. Preferred habitats include rocky coastal shores.

Listen to Call

Voice Text

Generally silent

Interesting Facts

  • Hundreds of Brandt's Cormorants are often seen flying in long lines, very near the water’s surface, on the way to their feeding ground.
  • The name Cormorant is derived from the Latin words Corvus Marinus, meaning marine crow or raven. Their habit of seeking out high perches after a meal and their dark color, both reminiscent of the crow, may account for this name.
  • Their scientific name, Phalacrocorax, comes from the Greek words meaning “bald crow.”
  • A group of cormorants has many collective nouns, including a "flight", "gulp", "rookery", "sunning", and "swim" of cormorants.


Author

Gary Owen Dick

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Range Map for Brandt's 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
Species Phalacrocorax penicillatus
Length35 Inches
Wingspan49 Inches

Brandt's Cormorant

Brandt's Cormorant: Medium crestless cormorant with dull black body. Face, back have slender white plumes. Bright blue throat pouch bordered with yellow. Dives for fish, crabs and shrimp. Holds wings out to dry. Strong direct flight with rapid, powerful wing beats, flies in straight line formation.

● Song: Generally silent

● Foraging & Feeding: Brandt's Cormorant: Eats fish; forages underwater, swimming with wings and feet to chase down prey and capture it with hooked bill.

● Breeding & nesting: Brandt's Cormorant: Three to six blue white eggs are laid in a large nest made of seaweed or other debris; usually nests in colonies on cliffs and rocky islands. Incubation ranges from 28 to 31 days and is carried out by both parents.

● Similar species: Brandt's Cormorant: Loons lack hooked bills. Double-crested Cormorant has orange on throat. Pelagic Cormorant has red on throat and is noticeably smaller and slimmer.

Flight Pattern

Strong direct flight with powerful rapid wing beats.
Brandt's Cormorant Body Illustration
● Range & Habitat: Brandt's Cormorant: Resident along Pacific coast from southeastern Alaska south to Baja California. Preferred habitats include rocky coastal shores.
BreedingMonogamous, Colonial
Population
MigrationNonmigratory
Weight73.6 Ounces