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Cormorant

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Birds

                    iCormorants
   Brandt's Cormorant, Phalacrocorax penicillatus
   Brandt's Cormorant, Phalacrocorax penicillatus
             Scientific classification

   Kingdom: Animalia
   Phylum:  Chordata
   Class:   Aves
   Order:   Pelecaniformes
   Family:  Phalacrocoracidae
            Reichenbach, 1850

                                   Genera

     * Nannopterum
     * Phalacrocorax
     * Leucocarbo

   The Phalacrocoracidae family of birds is represented by 38 species of
   cormorants and shags. Several different classifications of the family
   have been proposed recently, but in the one most commonly used, all but
   three species are placed in a single genus Phalacrocorax, the
   exceptions being the Galapagos' Flightless Cormorant, the Kerguelen
   Shag and the Imperial Shag.

Names

   There is no consistent distinction between cormorants and shags. The
   names "cormorant" and "shag" were originally the common names of the
   two species of the family found in Great Britain, Phalacrocorax carbo
   (now referred to by ornithologists as the Great Cormorant) and P.
   aristotelis (the Common Shag). "Shag" refers to the bird's crest, which
   the British forms of the Great Cormorant lack. As other species were
   discovered by English-speaking sailors and explorers elsewhere in the
   world, some were called cormorants and some shags, depending on whether
   they had crests or not. Sometimes the same species is called a
   cormorant in one part of the world and a shag in another, e.g. the
   Great Cormorant is called the Black Shag in New Zealand (the birds
   found in Australasia have a crest that is absent in European members of
   the species). Some modern classifications of the family have divided it
   into two genera and have tried to attach the name "Cormorant" to one
   and "Shag" to the other, but this flies in the face of common usage and
   has not been widely adopted.

   The scientific genus name is latinized Ancient Greek, from phalakros
   (bald) and korax (raven). "Cormorant" is a contraction derived from
   Latin corvus marinus, "sea raven". Indeed, "sea raven" or analogous
   terms were the usual terms for cormorants in Germanic languages until
   after the Middle Ages, and the erroneous belief that these birds were
   related to ravens lasted at least to the 16th century:

     "...le bec semblable à celuy d'un cormaran, ou autre corbeau."
     (...the beak similar to that of a cormorant or other corvids.";
     Thevet, 1558).

Characteristics

   Cormorants and shags are medium-to-large seabirds. The majority,
   including all Northern Hemisphere species, have mainly dark plumage,
   but some Southern Hemisphere species are black and white, and a few
   (e.g. the Spotted Shag of New Zealand) are quite colourful. Many
   species have areas of coloured skin on the face (the lores and the
   gular skin) which can be bright blue, orange, red or yellow, typically
   becoming more brightly coloured in the breeding season. The bill is
   long, thin, and sharply hooked. Their feet are four-toed and webbed, a
   distinguishing feature among the Pelecaniformes order.

   They are coastal rather than oceanic birds, and some have colonised
   inland waters. They range around the world, except for the central
   Pacific islands.

   All are fish-eaters, dining on small eels, fish, and even water snakes.
   They dive from the surface, though many species make a characteristic
   half-jump as they dive, presumably to give themselves a more
   streamlined entry into the water. Under water they propel themselves
   with their feet. Some cormorant species have been found, using depth
   gauges, to dive to depths of as much as 45 metres.

   After fishing, cormorants go ashore, and are frequently seen holding
   their wings out in the sun; it is assumed that this is to dry them.
   Unusually for a water bird, their feathers are not waterproofed. This
   may help them dive quickly, since their feathers do not retain air
   bubbles.

   Cormorants are colonial nesters, using trees, rocky islets, or cliffs.
   The eggs are a chalky-blue colour. There is usually one brood a year.
   The young are fed through regurgitation. They typically have deep,
   ungainly bills which make it obvious that they are related to pelicans.

Species

   For an alternative scientific classification, see Sibley-Ahlquist
   taxonomy.
     * Genus Phalacrocorax
          + Brandt's Cormorant, Phalacrocorax penicillatus
          + Double-crested Cormorant or White-crested Cormorant,
            Phalacrocorax auritus
          + Great Cormorant, Phalacrocorax carbo
          + Neotropic Cormorant, Phalacrocorax brasilianus
          + Olivaceous Cormorant or Mexican Cormorant, Phalacrocorax
            olivaceus
          + Pelagic Cormorant or Baird's Cormorant, Phalacrocorax
            pelagicus
          + Red-faced Cormorant, Phalacrocorax urile
          + Guanay Cormorant , Phalacrocorax bougainvillii (off Peru,
            guano collected from nesting colonies of this bird is used to
            produce internationally traded commercial fertilizer)
          + Little Black Cormorant, Phalacrocorax sulcirostris
          + Indian Cormorant, Phalacrocorax fuscicollis
          + Cape Cormorant, Phalacrocorax capensis
          + Socotran Cormorant, Phalacrocorax nigrogularis
          + Wahlberg's Cormorant or Bank Cormorant, Phalacrocorax
            neglectus
          + Temminck's Cormorant, Phalacrocorax capillatus
          + Common Shag, Phalacrocorax aristotelis
          + Rock Shag, Phalacrocorax magellanicus
          + Long-tailed Cormorant, Phalacrocorax africanus
          + White-breasted Cormorant, Phalacrocorax lucidus
          + Crowned Cormorant, Phalacrocorax coronatus
          + Little Cormorant, Phalacrocorax niger
          + Pygmy Cormorant, Phalacrocorax pygmaeus
          + Pitt Cormorant or Featherstone's Shag Phalacrocorax
            featherstoni
          + Pied Cormorant or Yellow-faced Cormorant, Phalacrocorax varius
          + King Shag, Phalacrocorax carunculatus
          + Black-faced Cormorant, Phalacrocorax fuscescens
          + Spectacled Cormorant, Phalacrocorax perspicillatus (extinct)
          + Red-footed Shag, Phalacrocorax gaimardi
          + Spotted Shag Phalacrocorax punctatus
          + White-bellied Shag, Phalacrocorax albiventer
          + Little Pied Cormorant, Phalacrocorax melanoleucos
          + Stewart Island Shag, Phalacrocorax chalconotus
          + Chatham Shag, Phalacrocorax onslowi
          + Auckland Shag, Phalacrocorax colensoi
          + Campbell Shag, Phalacrocorax campbelli
          + Bounty Shag, Phalacrocorax ranfurlyi
          + Flightless Cormorant, Phalacrocorax harrisi (previously
            Nannopterum harrisi) (confined to the Galapagos Islands where,
            through evolution, its wings have shrunk to the size of a
            penguin's flippers)
     * Genus Leucocarbo
          + Imperial Shag (Blue eyed Shag), Leucocarbo atriceps
            (Previously Antarctic, South Georgian, Heard, Crozet, and
            Macquarie Shags, Phalacrocorax bransfieldensis, georgianus,
            nivalis, melanogenis, and purpurascens.)
          + Kerguelen Shag, Leucocarbo verrocosus (Previously P.
            verrocosus.)

   The King Shag of New Zealand has a number of races previously
   considered as full species.

Cormorants' fishing

   Humans have historically exploited cormorants' fishing skills, in
   China, Japan, and Macedonia, where they have been trained by fishermen.
   In Japan, traditional cormorant fishing can be seen in Gifu City, in
   Gifu Prefecture, where it has continued uninterrupted for 1300 years,
   or in the city of Inuyama, in Aichi Prefecture. In Guilin, China,
   cormorant birds are famous for fishing on the shallow Lijiang River. A
   snare is tied near the base of the bird's throat, a snare that allows
   the bird only to swallow small fish. When the bird captures and tries
   to swallow a large fish, the fish gets stuck in the bird's throat. When
   the bird returns to the fisherman's raft, the fisherman helps the bird
   to remove the fish from its throat. The method is not as common today,
   since more efficient methods of catching fish have been developed.
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