Pelagic Cormorant

Overview

Pelagic Cormorant: Small cormorant with glossy black body and bold white patches on flanks. Red face and throat pouch. Head and neck are held straight in flight, with head appearing no wider than neck. Feeds on fish, crustaceans and other invertebrates. Graceful direct flight with rapid wing beats.

Range and Habitat

Pelagic Cormorant: Breeds from the Bering Sea south to northern Baja California. Spends winters south of southern Alaska. Preferred habitats include offshore and inshore waters.

INTERESTING FACTS

The Pelagic Cormorant is also known as the Baird’s Cormorant.
It can dive as deep as 100 feet in coastal waters to feed on the sea bottom.
This bird uses its own guano to solidify its nest materials and to cement its nest to the cliff face. A group of cormorants has many collective nouns, including a "flight", "gulp", "rookery", "sunning", and "swim" of cormorants.

The Pelagic Cormorant has a large range estimated to be between 100,000 to 1,000,000 square kilometers. This bird can be found in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Japan, the Russian Federations, Korea, China and Taiwan. Its chosen habitat is a marine environment, including freshwater lakes. The global population of this species has not been quantified, and it is not believed that the population trends for this species will soon approach the minimum levels that could suggest a potential decline in population. Due to this, population trends for the Pelagic Cormorant have a present evaluation level of Least Concern.