Great Cormorant

Phalacrocorax carbo (Linnaeus, 1758)

90 cmLength140 cmWingspan2.5 kgWeight

This large waterbird is blackish and glossy overall, often perching on rocks or branches to dry its wings.

Busiest months: October–March · Most records: United Kingdom, Spain, Australia

Least Concern

How to identify

Field marks

Blackish overall, with a gloss
Bill heavy, with yellow bare skin at the base of the lower mandible
Cheeks and throat white
White filamentous feathers on the head and neck and white patches on the flanks in the breeding season

Male, female and young

Male usually larger than female; juvenile dark brown with dirty-white underparts.

Where and when it's recorded

Busiest months: October–March · Most records: United Kingdom, Spain, Australia

Great Cormorant has been recorded at 3,747 of the 8,276 birding hotspots we track, in 134 countries and regions.

Records by month Northern Hemisphere

Where it's recorded most

Amwell HMWT NRUnited Kingdom8,517 records
Titchwell Marsh RSPB ReserveUnited Kingdom6,276 records
Txingudi – PlaiaundiSpain5,803 records

More places

Desembocadura del Guadalhorce – ÁreaSpain5,201 records
Minsmere RSPB ReserveUnited Kingdom5,002 records
Western Treatment PlantAustralia4,780 records
Beddington FarmlandsUnited Kingdom4,452 records
Barnegat Lighthouse SPUnited States4,255 records
Walthamstow WetlandsUnited Kingdom3,982 records
Rutland WaterUnited Kingdom3,669 records

Countries and regions with the most records

United Kingdom Spain Australia India China Portugal United States Germany

eBird records via GBIF up to 2024-12-31. A record means someone listed it; more records partly mean more birders, not more birds.

About

The great cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo), also known as just cormorant in Britain, as black shag or kawau in New Zealand, formerly also known as the great black cormorant across the Northern Hemisphere, the black cormorant in Australia, and the large cormorant in India, is a widespread member of the cormorant family of seabirds. It breeds in much of the Old World, Australasia, and the Atlantic coast of North America.

Excerpt from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 · authors · Read more on Wikipedia

Questions

How big is the Great Cormorant?

The Great Cormorant is about 90 cm long, with a wingspan of 140 cm and weighs around 2.5 kg.

Where does the Great Cormorant live?

Its breeding range: Palearctic, Australasia, Oriental, North America, Africa: worldwide in temperate and tropical zones, coastal and inland, except in Western Hemisphere where northwestern North Atlantic coast only.. It is most often recorded in United Kingdom, Spain and Australia.

When is the best time to see the Great Cormorant?

At the hotspots we track, it is recorded most in January, February, March, October, November and December (Northern Hemisphere).

Is the Great Cormorant endangered?

The IUCN Red List classifies the Great Cormorant as Least Concern.

What does the Great Cormorant eat?

Main food: Fish, shrimp & shellfish.

What family is the Great Cormorant in?

It belongs to the family Cormorants, Shags (Phalacrocoracidae), order Suliformes.

At a glance

Length: 90 cm
Wingspan: 140 cm
Weight: 2.5 kg
Habitat: Wetland
Diet: Fish, shrimp & shellfish
Lifestyle: On the water surface
Migration: Partial migrant
Conservation: Least Concern

More measurements

Wing: 340 mm
Tail: 148 mm
Bill: 83 mm
Tarsus: 64 mm

Averages from the AVONET dataset; length from field guides where available.

Range

Palearctic, Australasia, Oriental, North America, Africa: worldwide in temperate and tropical zones, coastal and inland, except in Western Hemisphere where northwestern North Atlantic coast only.

Breeding range, IOC World Bird List 15.2

Subspecies · 1

Phalacrocorax carbo sinensis inland c Europe to n, s, India and Sri Lanka to ne Russia, ne China and Korean Pen., s to Turkey, c Asia and n Mongolia; disjunctly sc Cambodia and s Vietnam, ne Borneo