Brandt’s Cormorant
Phalacrocorax penicillatus
Physical Description
- Large black water birds
- Long body and long neck
- Adults have white feathers during breeding season, and blue and pale markings below beak
- Young birds are all dark, with pale-colored chin and chest
- Medium-sized bill, blunt or hooked at tip
Range
- Along the Pacific coast in North America
- Range from Alaska to Gulf of California, with the Canadian population flying south for the winter
Habitat
- Found in inshore coastal waters, especially kelp forests
- Breeding colonies located on gentle slopes on windward sides of islands, or steep cliffs with ledges
Diet
- Mainly fish, sometimes amphibians and crustaceans
Predators
- Cormorant eggs and young are prey for gulls, eagles, and crows
Interesting Facts
- Cormorants can dive deep underwater for their food, even as deep as 150 feet! Scuba divers sometimes will turn and see a cormorant deep underwater swimming and fishing right next to them!
Sources: Tammy Russell, Scripps Institution of Oceanography; Audubon Society; AllAboutBirds.org; Oceanwide Explorations
Photo: Don Balch