Pelagic Cormorant

How to identify

Field marks

1. Non-breeding plumage black overall, with a metallic gloss
2. One short crest on the crown and another on the nape in the breeding season
3. Thighs white in the breeding season
4. Bare skin below the eyes turns bright magenta in the breeding season

Male, female and young

Sexes identical in appearance; female slightly smaller. Juvenile dark brown without a metallic gloss.

Voice

Growls when threatened; often gives a single call before taking off.

Similar species

Red-faced Cormorant

In the breeding season, the face is the key: this species' bare skin generally does not extend beyond the eyes, while Red-faced Cormorant's extends above the bill and behind the eyes; Red-faced Cormorant also has larger crests.

Where and when it's recorded

Pelagic Cormorant has been recorded at 137 of the 8,171 birding hotspots we track, in 7 countries and regions.

Records by month Northern Hemisphere

Where it's recorded most

1. Southeast Farallon IslandUnited States16,671 records
2. Pt. Pinos – seawatch onlyUnited States14,051 records
3. North Vancouver – Maplewood Flats Conservation AreaCanada6,565 records

Countries and regions with the most records

United StatesCanadaJapanSouth KoreaChinaMexicoRussia

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 pelagic cormorant (Urile pelagicus), also known as Baird's cormorant or violet-green cormorant, is a small member of the cormorant family Phalacrocoracidae. Analogous to other smallish cormorants, it is also called the pelagic shag occasionally. This seabird lives along the coasts of the northern Pacific; during winter it can also be found in the open ocean.

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

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