Neotropic Cormorant

Phalacrocorax brasilianusOrder: PELECANIFORMES Family: Cormorants (Phalacrocoracidae)

Codes: Common Name: NECO Scientific Name: PHABRA ITIS Taxonomic No.: 554375

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Overview

Neotropic Cormorant: Small, long-tailed cormorant. Black upper and lowerparts may show blue gloss. Long hooked yellow-gray bill with yellow "v" shaped gular pouch edged in white. Legs and feet are black. Feeds on fish, crustaceans and amphibians. Flies low over water with strong rapid wing beats.

Range and Habitat

Neotropic Cormorant: Fairly common in U.S. range. Found primarily in Louisiana, Texas, and along the Rio Grande valley into New Mexico. Inhabits saltwater bays and inlets, and freshwater lakes and ponds.

Topo Map: Upright-perching Water-like Body

Listen to Call

Voice Text

"r'rauh", "ruuh'aah"

Interesting Facts

Unlike other cormorants, the Neotropic Cormorant can often be seen perching on wires.

The northern populations are often called Mexican or Olivaceous Cormorants, and many authors treat these as a separate species, P. olivaceus.

Those who say the entire population is a single species treat the northern birds as a subspecies Phalacrocorax brasilianus mexicanus and the southern birds as subspecies P. b. brasilianus.

A group of cormorants has many collective nouns, including a "flight", "gulp", "rookery", "sunning", and "swim" of cormorants.

Bird Term Glossary

Author

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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.

Neotropic Cormorant

● Song: "r'rauh", "ruuh'aah"

● Foraging & Feeding: Neotropic Cormorant: Feeds on variety of fish, frogs, tadpoles and other aquatic organisms. Dives in pursuit of prey from water's surface. The only cormorant known to occasionally plunge dive from above water's surface. Cooperative feeding has also been documented.

● Breeding & nesting: Neotropic Cormorant: Monogamous and colonial. Male chooses nest site and brings materials to female who builds nest in the fork of a tree, rarely on ground. Nest is made of sticks, twigs, grasses, and leaves. Both sexes incubate two to six pale blue eggs for 23 to 26 days and tend young who become independent around 11 weeks.

● Similar species: Neotropic Cormorant: Double-crested Cormorant is larger and heavier looking, has a shorter tail, a yellow-orange throat pouch, and a green sheen on head, neck, and underparts. Brandt's Cormorant is seen on the West Coast, has a shorter tail, and a blue throat pouch during breeding season.

Flight Pattern

Strong direct flight with powerful rapid wing beats.

● Range & Habitat: Neotropic Cormorant: Fairly common in U.S. range. Found primarily in Louisiana, Texas, and along the Rio Grande valley into New Mexico. Inhabits saltwater bays and inlets, and freshwater lakes and ponds.

^BreedingMonogamous, Colonial

^PopulationCommon in range

^MigrationMost do not migrate

^Weight44.8 Ounces

Upright-perching Water-like Body

Gular

The area between the chin and the foreneck.

4 and 6 letter alpha codes

The four letter common name alpha code is is derived from the first two letters of the common first name and the first two letters of common last name. The six letter species name alpha code is derived from the first three letters of the scientific name (genus) and the first three letters of the scientific name (species). See (1) below for the rules used to create the codes..

Four-letter (for English common names) and six-letter (for scientific names) species alpha codes were developed by Pyle and DeSante (2003, North American Bird-Bander 28:64-79) to reflect A.O.U. taxonomy and nomenclature (A.O.U. 1998) as modified by Supplements 42 (Auk 117:847-858, 2000) and 43 (Auk 119:897-906, 2002). The list has been updated by Pyle and DeSante to reflect changes reported by the A.O.U from 2003 through 2006.

Field Guide to Birds of North America