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Guide to North American Birds

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Breeding adult. Photo: Steve Torna/Audubon Photography Awards

Brandt's Cormorant

Phalacrocorax penicillatus

Along the Pacific Coast, this cormorant is a common resident of wave-washed rocks and offshore waters. Sociable at all seasons, it is often seen flying in long lines low over the water. Groups roost together on rocks near water, and feed in flocks offshore, often associating with other seabirds.
Conservation status Local populations fluctuate, but overall numbers probably stable.
Family Cormorants
Habitat Ocean, coast. Almost always on salt water, entering brackish water at mouths of estuaries. May forage fairly close to shore or well out at sea. Nests on islands and locally on mainland, mostly on slopes rather than ledges of vertical cliffs.
Along the Pacific Coast, this cormorant is a common resident of wave-washed rocks and offshore waters. Sociable at all seasons, it is often seen flying in long lines low over the water. Groups roost together on rocks near water, and feed in flocks offshore, often associating with other seabirds.
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Feeding Behavior

See family introduction. Reportedly able to dive deep, perhaps more than 150' below surface. Forages singly or in groups, sometimes in association with sea lions. May forage at all levels from near surface to near bottom, perhaps mostly the latter.


Eggs

4, sometimes 3-6. Whitish to pale blue, becoming nest-stained. Incubation is by both sexes, incubation period unknown. Young: Both parents feed young, by regurgitation. Age at first flight unknown.


Young

Both parents feed young, by regurgitation. Age at first flight unknown.

Diet

mostly fish. Eats a wide variety of fish, including herring, rockfish; also some shrimp, crabs.


Nesting

Breeds in colonies. Male chooses nest site and displays there to ward off rivals and attract mate. Displays include drawing head back with blue throat pouch extended and bill pointed upward, spreading tail, and fluttering wings; also thrusting head forward and downward in rapid repeated strokes. Nest: Site is on ground, either level or steeply sloped. Nest is mound of seaweed, eelgrass, algae, cemented by droppings. Most nest material is obtained underwater; male does most of gathering, female does most of building. Pair may use same nest every year, adding to it annually.

Illustration © David Allen Sibley.
Learn more about these drawings.

Text © Kenn Kaufman, adapted from
Lives of North American Birds

Migration

Mostly permanent resident. Some local movements; birds nesting on Farallon Islands off California mostly absent in winter, perhaps going to adjacent mainland. In southeastern Alaska, apparently only a summer resident in very small numbers. Sometimes wanders along Mexican coast south of breeding range. Almost never found inland.

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Migration

Mostly permanent resident. Some local movements; birds nesting on Farallon Islands off California mostly absent in winter, perhaps going to adjacent mainland. In southeastern Alaska, apparently only a summer resident in very small numbers. Sometimes wanders along Mexican coast south of breeding range. Almost never found inland.

  • All Seasons - Common
  • All Seasons - Uncommon
  • Breeding - Common
  • Breeding - Uncommon
  • Winter - Common
  • Winter - Uncommon
  • Migration - Common
  • Migration - Uncommon
Songs and Calls
Croaks and grunts.
Audio © Lang Elliott, Bob McGuire, Kevin Colver, Martyn Stewart and others.
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How Climate Change Will Reshape the Range of the Brandt's Cormorant

Audubon’s scientists have used 140 million bird observations and sophisticated climate models to project how climate change will affect this bird’s range in the future.

Zoom in to see how this species’s current range will shift, expand, and contract under increased global temperatures.

Climate Threats Near You

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Climate threats facing the Brandt's Cormorant

Choose a temperature scenario below to see which threats will affect this species as warming increases. The same climate change-driven threats that put birds at risk will affect other wildlife and people, too.

Brandt's Cormorant In the News More News

U.S. Senate Votes to Protect Birds, Improve Parks, and Create Jobs
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U.S. Senate Votes to Protect Birds, Improve Parks, and Create Jobs

Bipartisan legislation to provide permanent funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund advances out of the U.S. Senate.

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Congress Has an Opportunity to Protect Birds, Improve Parks, and Create Jobs
Conservation

Congress Has an Opportunity to Protect Birds, Improve Parks, and Create Jobs

Fully funding the Land and Water Conservation Fund will help every county across the country.

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Alcatraz Is Being Overrun by Seabirds, But Who’s Complaining?
News

Alcatraz Is Being Overrun by Seabirds, But Who’s Complaining?

Fifty-five years after the infamous prison closed, “The Rock” now hosts thousands of nesting gulls, cormorants, guillemots, and more.

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