Seashore, rocky or sandy, Marshes, freshwater, Swamps, Sea, open
Monogamous, Colonial
Blue white
3 - 6
28 - 31
Both sexes
Made of moss, grasses, and seaweed.
Nonmigratory
Brandt's Cormorant: Medium-sized, crestless cormorant with dull black body. Face and back have slender white plumes. Throat pouch is bright blue bordered with yellow. Winter adult lacks blue throat pouch. Juvenile is dark brown above, paler below.
Brandt's Cormorant: Resident along Pacific coast from southeastern Alaska south to Baja California. Preferred habitats include rocky coastal shores.
Brandt's Cormorant: Three to six blue white eggs are laid in a large nest made of seaweed or other debris; usually nests in colonies on cliffs and rocky islands. Incubation ranges from 28 to 31 days and is carried out by both parents.
Brandt's Cormorant: Eats fish; forages underwater, swimming with wings and feet to chase down prey and capture it with hooked bill.
Brandt's Cormorant: Emits a variety of croaks and grunts only on the nest.
Brandt's Cormorant: Loons lack hooked bills. Double-crested Cormorant has orange on throat. Pelagic Cormorant has red on throat and is noticeably smaller and slimmer.
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.
The Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) was established in the mid-1990�s as a cooperative project among several federal agencies to improve and expand upon taxonomic data (known as the NODC Taxonomic Code) maintained by the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
To find the ITIS page for a bird species go to the ITIS web site advanced search and report page at http://www.itis.gov/advanced_search.html. You can enter the TSN or the common name of the bird. It will return the ITIS page for that bird. Another way to obtain the ITIS page is to use the Google search engine. Enter the string ITIS followed by the taxonomic ID, for example "ITIS 178041" will return the page for the Allen's Hummingbird.