NEOTROPIC CORMORANT
NEOTROPIC CORMORANT – (Phalacrocorax brasilianus) – (See images below)
The Neotropic cormorant is approximately 2 feet long (60 cm), smaller than its similar-looking ‘cousin’ the Double-crested cormorant. It is mostly black. The base of the bill is yellowish. As with other cormorants, the bill is hooked at the tip. Sexes are similar.
The neotropic cormorant is only found in Texas in the USA, as it is a bird of the New World tropics (as the English name indicates). Its permanent distribution area encompasses Mexico and southward to almost all of South America. It is found along rivers where it feeds mainly from fish, and also along the sea coasts.
This species of cormorant is the only one to dive from the air (although not very high) into the water, rather than from the water surface. Those birds also hunt fish in groups by flapping their wings on the water to scare fish away into shallower areas.
The Neotropic cormorant is approximately 2 feet long (60 cm), smaller than its similar-looking ‘cousin’ the Double-crested cormorant. It is mostly black. The base of the bill is yellowish. As with other cormorants, the bill is hooked at the tip. Sexes are similar.
The neotropic cormorant is only found in Texas in the USA, as it is a bird of the New World tropics (as the English name indicates). Its permanent distribution area encompasses Mexico and southward to almost all of South America. It is found along rivers where it feeds mainly from fish, and also along the sea coasts.
This species of cormorant is the only one to dive from the air (although not very high) into the water, rather than from the water surface. Those birds also hunt fish in groups by flapping their wings on the water to scare fish away into shallower areas.
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| Neotropic cormorat, Jodi Arsenault |