Brandt's Cormorant

Brandt's Cormorant, adult; La Jolla, CA

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About the map

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Breeding Brandt's Cormorants (above) develop a bright-blue gluar pouch which fades quickly after the nesting season; California, April. Head of non-breeding Brandt's Cormorant (below; California, January); compare lack of color in gular pouch with breeding adult shown above.

Menu

1. Cool Facts
2. Description
3. Sound
4. Range
5. Habitat
6. Food
7. Behavior
8. Reproduction
9. Conservation Status
10. Other Names

A large cormorant of the Pacific Coast, the Brandt's Cormorant is found only in marine environments.

Cool Facts

• The Brandt's Cormorant is the least vocal of the North American cormorants at the nest. It makes sounds that are audible only from a few feet away.
• In the main part of its range, from California to Washington, the Brandt's Cormorant is tied to the rich food sources associated with upwellings of the California Current. In the nonbreeding season, when the effects of this current diminish, populations redistribute along the coast, occurring where food is locally available.

Description

• Size: 70-79 cm (28-31 in)
• Wingspan: 108 cm (43 in)
• Weight: 1400-2700 g (49.42-95.31 ounces)

• Large, dark water bird.
• Long body and long neck.
• Medium-sized bill is blunt or hooked at tip.
• Pale patch at base of bill.
• Bill dark.

• Relatively short tail.
• Body brownish black, with green luster.
• Breeding adult has bright blue skin under bill; gray in nonbreeding season.
• Bill dark grayish.
• Eyes green to turquoise.
• Legs and feet black.

Sex Differences

Sexes look alike; males slightly larger.

Immature

Juvenile brownish black with tan on underparts, lightest on lower breast where it forms a pale "V" at the border of breast and neck.

Sound

Low, hoarse and guttural croaks, growls, or gargles.

Range

Range Map

© 2004 Cornell Lab of Ornithology

About the map

Summer Range

Breeds along the Pacific Coast from southern British Columbia southward to Baja California.

Winter Range

Winters along coast from southern Alaska southward to Baja California.

Habitat

Found in inshore coastal waters, especially areas with kelp beds; also large bays and occasionally estuaries or coastal lagoons. Breeding colonies located on gentle slopes on windward side of islands, or steep cliffs with ledges.

Food

Fish and some squid.

Behavior

Foraging

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

Reproduction

Nest Type

Substantial circular drum of dry matter collected from around colony, including items stolen from other nests, grass, moss, and weeds from near colony, seaweed collected by diving, and occasionally sticks or rubbish.

Egg Description

Pale blue or bluish white.

Clutch Size

Condition at Hatching

Naked and helpless.

Conservation Status

Legal protection from egging and hunting may have led to increases in populations from 1900 to 1970.

Other Names

Cormoran de Brandt (Spanish)
Cormorán de Brandt, Sargento guanero, Pato buzo (English)

Sources used to construct this page:

Wallace, E. A. H., and G. E. Wallace. 1998. Brandt?s Cormorant (Phalacrocorax penicillatus). In The Birds of North America, No. 362 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA.