Breeding adult. Photo: Steve Torna/Audubon Photography Awards
Phalacrocorax penicillatus
| 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. |
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.
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.
Both parents feed young, by regurgitation. Age at first flight unknown.
mostly fish. Eats a wide variety of fish, including herring, rockfish; also some shrimp, crabs.
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.
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