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Great Cormorant

Phalacrocorax carbo ORDER: PELECANIFORMES FAMILY: PHALACROCORACIDAE

IUCN Conservation Status: Least Concern

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Great Cormorant Photo

© Mary Tremaine / CLO

The Great Cormorant is the most widely distributed of all the cormorants, breeding in Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia. In North America, however, it is restricted to just the Atlantic Coast, breeding in only a few colonies from Maine to Greenland.

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Appearance

Gull-like
Gull-like

Adult Description

  • Large, dark water bird.
  • Long body and long neck.
  • Medium-sized bill is blunt or hooked at tip.
  • White patch at base of bill.

Immature Description

Juvenile with dirty brown neck and white belly; variable, may be uniformly mottled. Shows only hint of white face patch. Skin at base of bill yellowish.

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Great Cormorant Range Map
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Field MarksHelp

  • Breeding
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    Breeding
    • © Mary Tremaine / CLO, Nova Scotia, Canada, August 2000

Similar Species

  • Double-crested Cormorant smaller and slimmer, has orange facial skin without white border; immature with chest paler than belly.