The Double-crested Cormorant

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The Double-crested Cormorant is a large bird measuring 29 to 36 inches in length and has a wing span of up to 4 feet. It is a black bird with a long tail with a slender hooked bill, and a yellowish-orange throat patch. Its feet are webbed. The females are similar in appearance but the juveniles are brown rather than black and their chest and face are white. The double-crested Cormorant can be distinguished from other cormorants by the distinctive kink in their neck during flight.

The Double-crested Cormorant is a common species and can be found along coastal areas as wells as inland waterways. Its breeding range follows the coast of Alaska southward to Mexico, and from Nova Scotia south to the Bahamas. It will winter along the coast wherever there is open water. Their normal habitat is near fresh or brackish waterways and lakes, estuaries, swamps, and coastlands.

The male Double-crested Cormorant attracts the female's attention by flapping and waving their wings drawing attention to their head-tufts and neck. Once paired, they select a nest site and start building their nest. The nest is built of sticks, twigs and seaweed. It can be placed on the ground, on cliff edges, in trees, or even in a bush. The female will lay 3 to 5 eggs and the brood is incubated by both the male and the female for 35 to 29 days. When the chicks hatch, both parents feed and care for them. They usually fledge between 35 and 40 days. The fledglings depend on their parents for another 4 weeks before going their own way.

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The Double-crested Cormorant is usually silent, but will occasionally emit a deep, guttural grunt.

Listen to the voice of the Double-crested Cormorant:
Sound Byte: Double-crested Cormorant, National Park Service

Double-crested Cormorants are predominately fish eaters, although amphibians and crustaceans will be consumed on occasion. It will swim low in the water, often with just its neck and head visible, and then abruptly diving for its prey. Once the fish is caught in its beak, it surfaces before eating it. It will flip the fish up into the air and swallow it head-first. Indigestible parts are regurgitated as pellets.

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The Double-crested Cormorant's numbers dropped drastically when DDT was in use. Since then their numbers have risen dramatically. In some areas, the Double-crested Cormorants are so plentiful that they are interfering with sport fishing. Measures to limit their population growth have been considered.