Neotropic Cormorant

Neotropic Cormorant, non-breeding adult.

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Neotropic Cormorant, juvenile, TX; November.

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1. Description
2. Sound
3. Conservation Status
4. Other Names
5. Cool Facts
6. Full detailed species account

A bird of the tropical waterways of Central and South America, the Neotropic Cormorant reaches the upper limits of its range in Texas and occasionally, the Great Plains. Although it superficially resembles North America's other freshwater cormorant, the Double-crested Cormorant, the Neotropic Cormorant stands apart in various aspects of behavior, as well as range.

Description

• Large, dark waterbird.
• Long body and long neck.
• Medium-sized bill is blunt or hooked at tip.
• Purplish black plumage.
• Throat and base of bill yellowish.

• Size: 61 cm (24 in)
• Wingspan: 102 cm (40 in)
• Weight: 1070-1500 g (37.77-52.95 ounces)

Sex Differences

Sexes alike.

Sound

Piglike grunts.

Conservation Status

In the 1960s, Neotropic Cormorant populations declined severely in Texas; since then, these populations have shown a general trend toward growth. The cause of the declines is not conclusively understood.

Other Names

Cormoran vigua (French)
Cormorán biquá, Pato negro, Pato puerco, Pato cordo, Cuervo marino (Spanish)
Olivaceous Cormorant, Brazilian Cormorant, Mexican Cormorant (English)

Cool Facts

• The Neotropic Cormorant is the only cormorant known to plunge-dive into water to catch fish. Unlike gannets and boobies, it does not dive from great heights, restricting its dives to less than a half-meter (1.75 feet) over the water. It is not particularly successful with this technique, catching a fish only once in every six to ten plunges.
• In Mexico, Neotropic Cormorants reportedly often fish cooperatively, forming a line across swift-flowing streams and striking the surface with their wings, causing fish to flee, whereupon the cormorants dive and pursue them.

Sources used to construct this page:

Telfair, R. C., and M. L. Morrison. 1995. Neotropic Cormorant (Phalacrocorax brasilianus). In The Birds of North America, No. 137 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, and The American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C.