Red-faced Cormorant

Urile urile (Gmelin, JF, 1789)

≈64 cmLength2.1 kgWeight

The adult has dark blue-green feathers with a metallic gloss, and bare skin around the eyes that is bright orange or red in the breeding season.

Busiest months: June · Most records: United States, Japan

Least Concern

How to identify

Field marks

Bare skin around the eyes bright orange or red in the breeding season
Adult blue-green, with a purple or copper sheen on the back and body sides
Two crests in the breeding season
Legs and feet rufous-black

Male, female and young

Adult female lighter than male on average.

Where and when it's recorded

Red-faced Cormorant has been recorded at 5 of the 8,171 birding hotspots we track, in 2 countries and regions.

Records by month Northern Hemisphere

Where it's recorded most

St. Paul IslandUnited States7,880 records
Nemuro – Cape NosappuJapan212 records
Hamanaka – Cape KiritappuJapan9 records

More places

Nemuro – Shunkunitai Wild Bird SanctuaryJapan3 records
Nemuro – Hanasaki PortJapan2 records

Countries and regions with the most records

United States Japan

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

Questions

How big is the Red-faced Cormorant?

The Red-faced Cormorant is about ≈64 cm long and weighs around 2.1 kg.

Where does the Red-faced Cormorant live?

Its breeding range: Pacific Ocean: central coastal subarctic North Pacific: Kamchatka, northern, central Kuril and Commander islands (southeastern Russia) to southern Kuril Islands and eastern Hokkaido (northern Japan; western North Pacific); Aleutian and Pribilof islands (Bering Sea) and southern Alaska islands (eastern North Pacific). It is most often recorded in United States and Japan.

When is the best time to see the Red-faced Cormorant?

At the hotspots we track, it is recorded most in June (Northern Hemisphere).

Is the Red-faced Cormorant endangered?

The IUCN Red List classifies the Red-faced Cormorant as Least Concern.

What does the Red-faced Cormorant eat?

Main food: Fish, shrimp & shellfish.

What family is the Red-faced Cormorant in?

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

At a glance

Length: ≈64 cm
Weight: 2.1 kg
Habitat: Ocean
Diet: Fish, shrimp & shellfish
Lifestyle: On the water surface
Migration: Resident (barely migrates)
Conservation: Least Concern

More measurements

Wing: 270 mm
Tail: 154 mm
Bill: 56 mm
Tarsus: 56 mm

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

Range

Pacific Ocean: central coastal subarctic North Pacific: Kamchatka, northern, central Kuril and Commander islands (southeastern Russia) to southern Kuril Islands and eastern Hokkaido (northern Japan; western North Pacific); Aleutian and Pribilof islands (Bering Sea) and southern Alaska islands (eastern North Pacific)

Breeding range, IOC World Bird List 15.2