Pelagic Cormorant


	Pelagic Cormorant
	Phalacrocorax pelagicus

The Pelagic Cormorant is a small, slender cormorant of the Pacific Coast. Although it is exclusively marine in habits, its name is misleading, since it prefers inshore areas rather than the open ocean.

Interesting Information

The Pelagic Cormorant uses its own guano to solidify its nest materials and to cement its nest to the cliff face.
The Pelagic Cormorant is among the least gregarious or social of the cormorants, nesting on steep cliffs along rocky and exposed shorelines, either in loose colonies or far from nearest neighbors.
It can dive as deep as 100 feet in coastal waters to feed on the sea bottom.
A group of cormorants has many collective nouns, including a "flight", "gulp", "rookery", "sunning", and "swim" of cormorants.

Description

Adult Description

Large, dark water bird; small to medium-sized cormorant.
Long body and long, slender neck.
Slender bill is blunt or hooked at tip.
Length Range: 66-74 cm (26-29 in)
Weight: 2040 g (72 oz)
Size: Large (16 - 32 in)
Color Primary: Green, Black, Sheen or Iridescence
Underparts: Black
Upperparts: Black with metallic green sheen.
Back Pattern: Solid
Belly Pattern: Solid
Breast Pattern: Solid

Sex Differences

Sexes similar.

Immature

Immature brownish and lacks crests or glossy plumage of adult.

Photo taken from: The Sibley Field Guide by David Allen Sibley

Habitat

Found in inshore coastal waters. Breeding and roost sites include rocky habitat along outer coast, bays, inlets, estuaries, rapids, coves, surge narrows, harbors, lagoons, and coastal log-storage sites.

Behavior

Dives from the surface of the water and chases prey under water. Grabs fish in bill, without spearing it.

Food

Fish and marine invertebrates.

Taxonomy

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Subphylum:	Vertebrata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Suliformes
Family:	Phalacrocoracidae
Genus:	Phalacrocorax
Species:	Phalacrocorax pelagicus
Subspecies:	Phalacrocorax pelagicus pelagicus
	Phalacrocorax pelagicus resplendens

Similar Species

Double-crested Cormorant is larger, with a thicker bill, and has conspicuous pale facial skin, usually orange. Juvenile has uniformly pale upper breast.
Brandt's Cormorant is larger and stockier, with shorter tail, larger bill, blue or gray facial skin, and a pale patch at the base of the bill. Juvenile has pale breast with V-shaped pale mark.
Red-faced Cormorant very similar, but has larger, slightly yellowish bill and bare skin reaching above the bill. Immature nearly identical to immature Pelagic Cormorant except for thicker, paler bill.

Bird Sound

Low groans, croaks, or hisses.

Eggs look like this

Photo taken from: ARCTOS Collaborative Collection Management Solution

	Sources Used To Construct This Page
	Hobson, K. A. 1997. Pelagic Cormorant (Phalacrocorax pelagicus). In The Birds of North America, No. 282 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, PA, and The American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C.

	All photos and videos © Rick Swartzentrover - Free for non-profit use.