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Great Cormorant

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Birds

                 iGreat Cormorant

                             Conservation status

   Least Concern (LC)
            Scientific classification

   Kingdom: Animalia
   Phylum:  Chordata
   Class:   Aves
   Order:   Pelecaniformes
   Family:  Phalacrocoracidae
   Genus:   Phalacrocorax
   Species: P. carbo

                                Binomial name

   Phalacrocorax carbo
   Linnaeus, 1758

   The Great Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo) is a widespread member of the
   cormorant family of seabirds. It breeds in much of the Old World and
   the Atlantic coast of North America.

Description

   The Great Cormorant is a large black bird, 77-94 cm in length with a
   121-149 cm wingspan. It has a longish tail and yellow throat-patch.
   Adults have white thigh patches in the breeding season. In European
   waters it can be distinguished from the Common Shag by its larger size,
   heavier build, thicker bill, lack of a crest and plumage without any
   green tinge.

   In eastern North America, it is similarly larger and bulkier than
   Double-crested Cormorant, and the latter species has more yellow on the
   throat and bill.

   The subspecies found in Australasian waters, P. carbo novaehollandiae,
   has a crest. In New Zealand this is known as the Black Shag; another
   subspecies, the White-breasted Cormorant P. c. lucidus found in
   sub-Saharan Africa, has a white neck and breast.

Distribution

   This is a very common and widespread bird species. It feeds on the sea,
   in estuaries, and on freshwater lakes and rivers. Northern birds
   migrate south and winter along any coast that is well-supplied with
   fish.

   The type subspecies, P. c. carbo, is found mainly in Atlantic waters
   and nearby inland areas: on western European coasts and south to North
   Africa, the Faeroes, Iceland and Greenland; and on the eastern seaboard
   of North America, though in America it breeds only in the north of its
   range, in the Canadian maritime provinces. In addition to the
   Australasian and African forms, Phalacrocorax carbo novaehollandiae and
   P. carbo lucidus mentioned above, other geographically distinct
   subspecies are recognised, including P. c. sinensis (western Europe to
   east Asia), P. c. maroccanus (north-western Africa), and P. c. hannedae
   (Japan). Some authors treat all these as allospecies of a P. carbo
   superspecies group.

Behaviour

   The Great Cormorant breeds mainly on coasts, nesting on cliffs or in
   trees (which are eventually killed by the droppings), but also
   increasingly inland. 3-4 eggs are laid in a nest of seaweed or twigs.

   The Great Cormorant can dive to considerable depths, but often feeds in
   shallow water. It frequently brings prey to the surface. A wide variety
   of fish are taken: cormorants are often noticed eating eels, but this
   may reflect the considerable time taken to subdue an eel and position
   it for swallowing, rather than any dominance of eels in the diet. In UK
   waters, dive times of 20-30 seconds are common, with a recovery time on
   the surface around a third of dive time.

Cormorants and humans

   Many fishermen see in the Great Cormorant a competitor for fish.
   Because of this it was nearly hunted to extinction in the past. Thanks
   to conservation efforts its numbers increased. At the moment there are
   about 450.000 breeding birds in West Europe.
   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Cormorant"
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   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
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