Great Cormorant

The Great cormorant is a large, long-necked, beautiful black waterbird with an oily Plumage which is usually black with an iridescent sheen.

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 It is often seen with its wings spread for drying after it had been diving for fish. After fishing, cormorants go ashore and are frequently seen holding their wings out in the sun.

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Cormorants are not wading birds, but excellent divers, and underwater they propel themselves with their feet with help from their wings. Some cormorant species have been found to dive as deep as 45 meters (150 ft).  A cormorant dives deep in search of fish. It can hold its breath for about 15 minutes (900 seconds). Cormorants dive from the water surface and move underwater with the unique and synchronized paddling of both webbed feet, while wings are folded up against the body. They swim at a speed of 6 to 9 km/h.  A flock of cormorants is called a “gulp.”

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Studies have confirmed that these birds can eat one to one-and-a-half pounds of fish per bird per day.

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