If you spend enough mornings wandering Florida’s edges—causeways at dawn, mangrove shorelines at low tide, the quiet backwaters of a river just lifting its veil of fog—you will eventually encounter the double-crested cormorant. You may not notice it at first as special. It is not showy like a roseate spoonbill or theatrically elegant like a great egret. Instead, it is a bird of posture and purpose: black-feathered, long-necked, keen-eyed, often perched with wings flung wide in a posture that looks like part prayer, part accusation.
I’ve heard people call it sinister. I’ve heard fishermen curse it. I’ve heard others mistake it for an anhinga and dismiss it altogether. But to do so is to miss one of Florida’s most fascinating and revealing birds—a living emblem of adaptation, controversy, and raw ecological competence.
A Bird That Knows Exactly What It’s Doing
The double-crested cormorant is built for work. Its long, slightly hooked bill is a precision tool for grabbing slippery fish. Its neck is supple and muscular, capable of striking forward like a spring-loaded spear. Beneath the waterline, its webbed feet churn with quiet power, driving the bird through murky canals and open bays alike.
Cormorants don’t dive like pelicans—no spectacular splash, no aerial drama. Instead, they slip under the surface with a smooth, economical motion, as if melting into the water. Then they swim, propelled by their feet rather than wings, pursuing fish underwater with a calm intensity that suggests total confidence in the outcome.
And they are good at it. Very good.
This competence is part of the problem.
The Wing-Drying Ritual (and What It Really Means)
Few bird behaviors in Florida are as visually striking as a cormorant standing upright, wings spread wide, facing into the sun or breeze. To the uninitiated, it looks theatrical or vaguely menacing. To the naturalist, it is simply physics.
Unlike many waterbirds, cormorants have feathers that are less waterproof. This allows them to reduce buoyancy and dive more efficiently, but it comes at a cost: after a fishing session, they must dry their wings. Hence the pose—part solar panel, part wind sail.
I’ve watched a line of cormorants on a dead mangrove limb, all facing the same direction, wings extended, like black flags signaling the end of a successful hunt. It is one of Florida’s quiet spectacles—unadvertised, unsponsored, entirely authentic.
And yes, it does make them look like creatures out of myth.
Not an Anhinga (Though They’re Cousins in Spirit)
Florida birders learn early to distinguish the cormorant from the anhinga, another fish-eating diver often found in the same waters. The anhinga, sometimes called the “snakebird,” swims with just its head and neck above water, giving it a serpentine appearance. Cormorants ride lower than ducks but higher than anhingas, their bodies more visible at the surface.
In flight, the difference is even clearer. Cormorants fly with steady wingbeats and a noticeable crook in the neck, while anhingas soar more often, their wings broader and their silhouette lighter.
If the anhinga feels mystical and slightly aloof, the cormorant feels… pragmatic. This is a bird that clocks in, does the job, and clocks out.
A Social Creature with a Sharp Edge
Double-crested cormorants are not loners. They fish in loose groups, roost communally, and nest in colonies that can number in the hundreds or thousands. In Florida, these colonies often appear on mangrove islands, spoil islands, dead trees in reservoirs, and even man-made structures.
This sociability has consequences.
Large colonies can strip vegetation bare with guano. Fish stocks near roosting sites may feel pressure. And when humans build fisheries, stock ponds, or aquaculture operations near water, cormorants inevitably arrive—uninvited, unrepentant, and hungry.
Which brings us to the controversy.
The Bird People Love to Hate
Few native birds in North America inspire as much resentment as the double-crested cormorant. Fishermen accuse it of stealing fish. Managers worry about localized ecological impacts. Property owners complain about noise, smell, and skeletal trees beneath roosts.
And yet, history complicates the outrage.
By the mid-20th century, cormorant populations had plummeted due to persecution and the effects of pesticides like DDT. They were once rare in many places where they are now common. Their modern recovery is not evidence of villainy—it is evidence of resilience and successful conservation.
In other words, the cormorant did not become “too many.” It became present again.
As a naturalist, I find this moment instructive. When a species thrives in human-altered landscapes, we often label it a problem rather than asking what our landscapes now favor—and why.
Florida as the Perfect Stage
Florida suits the cormorant perfectly. We offer warm winters, abundant shallow water, endless fish, and a patchwork of natural and artificial perches. From freshwater lakes to brackish estuaries, from coastal causeways to inland retention ponds, the cormorant finds opportunity everywhere.
I’ve watched them fish in roadside canals as traffic roared past, utterly unbothered. I’ve seen them perched on channel markers at sunrise, feathers glowing faintly green and bronze in the early light. I’ve seen them lift off in ragged lines, low over the water, heading toward some collective decision only they seem to understand.
They belong here—not because they are charming, but because they are capable.
A Lesson in Wild Honesty
What I admire most about the double-crested cormorant is its refusal to perform for us. It is not decorative. It does not soften its edges. It does not pretend to be anything other than a fish-eating bird making a living.
In a state where nature is often filtered through tourism brochures and Instagram aesthetics, the cormorant stands as a reminder that wildness is not obligated to be beautiful in familiar ways. Sometimes it is dark, angular, and inconvenient.
Sometimes it smells like guano and stares back at you without apology.
Watching with New Eyes
The next time you see a cormorant—wings spread, perched on a piling, eyes fixed on water—pause before judging. Watch how still it becomes. Notice how precisely it enters the water. Observe the efficiency with which it swallows a fish head-first, already preparing for the next dive.
This is not a bird out of balance. It is a bird perfectly tuned to the world as it exists now.
And that may be what unsettles us most.
Closing Reflections from the Shore
As a Florida naturalist, I have come to see the double-crested cormorant as a kind of ecological truth-teller. It reveals where fish are plentiful, where waters still function, and where our own expectations clash with nature’s indifference to human preference.
It is not here to please us. It is here because it can be.
And in a rapidly changing Florida—where so much disappears quietly—the presence of a bird that endures, adapts, and insists on its place feels less like a problem and more like a message.
The cormorant stands with wings open, drying in the sun, utterly unconcerned with our opinions.
Perhaps there is something to learn in that.
| Double-crested cormorant Temporal range:
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|---|---|
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| Adult in non-breeding plumage | |
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| Adult in breeding plumage | |
Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Suliformes |
| Family: | Phalacrocoracidae |
| Genus: | Nannopterum |
| Species: | N. auritum
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| Binomial name | |
| Nannopterum auritum (Lesson, 1831)
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| Geographical distribution of Double-crested cormorant. Breeding Migration Year-round Nonbreeding
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| Synonyms | |
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Carbo auritus Lesson, 1831 | |
The double-crested cormorant (Nannopterum auritum) is a member of the cormorant family of water birds. It is found near rivers and lakes and in coastal areas and is widely distributed across North America, from the Aleutian Islands in Alaska down to Florida and Mexico. Measuring 70–90 cm (28–35 in) in length, it is entirely black except for a bare patch of orange-yellow facial skin and some extra plumage that it exhibits in the breeding season when it grows a double crest in which black feathers are mingled with white. Five subspecies are recognized. It mainly eats fish and hunts by swimming and diving. Its feathers, like all cormorants, are not waterproof, and it must dry them out after spending time in the water. Once threatened by the use of DDT, the numbers of this bird have increased markedly in recent years.
Taxonomy
The double-crested cormorant was described by René Primevère Lesson in 1831. It was formerly classified in the genus Phalacrocorax, but a 2014 study supported reclassifying it and several other American cormorant species into the genus Nannopterum.[3] The IOC followed this classification in 2021.[4]
Its scientific genus name is derived from the Greek words νᾶνος : nános, "small" and πτερόν : pterón, "wing". This genus name was originally coined for the flightless cormorant (N. harrisi), which does have very small wings; although the double-crested cormorant has normal-sized wings, it (along with the neotropic cormorant, N. brasilianum) was still reclassified into the genus Nannopterum when the relationship between it and the flightless cormorant became apparent. The species name is from the Latin auritus, "eared", referring to its nuptial crests.[5] Its common name refers to the same nuptial crests.
Five subspecies are recognized:[6]
- N. a. albociliatum (Ridgway 1884), Farallon cormorant,[7] breeds along the Pacific coast of North America from British Columbia to Bird Island in the state of Sinaloa, Mexico, and possibly even further south. Significant colonies of these birds may also be found further inland including areas around the Salton Sea. According to currently available information, this subspecies is the third largest among the subspecies of the double-crested cormorant. Historical records indicate that this species was far more abundant in the past, but due to human persecution and development in their breeding range, the population of this subspecies has declined. The largest colony of cormorants in North America consisted of members of this subspecies at San Martin Island, Baja California Territory, Mexico, and was recorded in 1913.[6] Physically, this subspecies is fairly large and has white to partially white nuptial crests.[8]
- N. a. auritum (Lesson, 1831), the nominate subspecies, has the largest and most widespread breeding population. It ranges from the Great Basin and Rocky Mountains east into central and eastern North America. This region includes the Canadian prairies and the Great Lakes. Historically, this subspecies has bred in abundance across most of this region, though there are questions as to whether this bird has always bred in the Great Lakes region. Some evidence indicates that the bird has only begun breeding in the region since the early 20th century while other evidence suggests that it has been breeding in the region much longer. Physically, this subspecies is moderately large and has black nuptial crests.[6][8]
- N. a. cincinnatum (Brandt 1837), white-crested cormorant,[7] currently this is the most geographically restricted subspecies with the smallest population. It is found along the southern coast of Alaska and on the Aleutian Islands, ranging west from Kodiak to Chuginidak in the Aleutians. Historically, the range extended west to the Near Islands, but possibly due to nest predation by introduced foxes, the birds were no longer breeding in the area by the mid-1930s.[6] Physically, this subspecies is the largest and it bears straight, white nuptial crests.[8]
- N. a. floridanum (Audubon 1835), Florida cormorant,[7] the smallest of the five subspecies, it is found from southern and central Texas east to the Atlantic and from North Carolina south to Florida. Records indicate that this subspecies was abundant throughout its range before the 20th century, but now is only abundant in Florida. This bird has dark nuptial crests.[6]
- N. a. heuretum This subspecies bears straight, white nuptial crests.[8] Physically, it is the smallest. It has bare lores and a greenish gloss on the head and neck. It breeds only in the mangroves surrounding interior lakes of San Salvador in the Bahamas. It may also be resident on other Bahamian islands.[9]
Description
The double-crested cormorant is a large waterbird with a stocky body, long neck, medium-sized tail, webbed feet, and a medium-sized hooked bill. It has a body length of between 70 and 90 cm (28 and 35 in) long, with a wingspan of between 114 and 123 cm (45 and 48 in).[8][10] Double-crested cormorants weigh between 1.2 and 2.5 kg (2.6 and 5.5 lb). Males and females do not display sexual dimorphism.[10]
This species has dark-colored plumage with bare supra-loreal skin and gular skin that is yellow or orange. An adult in breeding plumage will be mostly black with the back and coverts being a dark grayish towards the center. Nuptial crests, for which the species is named, are either white, black or a mix of the two. These are located just above the eyes with the bare skin on the face of a breeding adult being orange. A non-breeding adult will lack the crests and have more yellowish skin around the face. The bill of the adult is dark-colored.[8] The double-crested cormorant is very similar in appearance to the larger great cormorant, which has a more restricted distribution in North America, mainly on the Canadian maritime provinces; it can, however, be separated by having more yellow on the throat and the bill.[10] The neotropic cormorant also looks very similar, and the two species can sometimes be found together where their ranges meet.
The plumage of juvenile double-crested cormorants is more dark gray or brownish. The underparts of a juvenile are lighter than the back with a pale throat and breast that darkens towards the belly. As a bird ages, its plumage will grow darker. The bill of a juvenile will be mostly orange or yellowish.[8]
Distribution and habitat
A very common and widespread species, it winters anywhere that is ice-free along both coasts, as far north as southern Alaska (on the west coast) and southern New England (on the east coast). It can be found as far south as Mexico and the Bahamas. It migrates from the coldest parts of its breeding range, such as eastern Canada, and has occurred in Europe as a very rare vagrant, for example in Great Britain, Ireland, and the Azores.
It is resident on Pacific Coast from Aleutian Islands south to Nayarit, Mexico (but excluding parts of British Columbia and the Southern California Bight) and inland to the Colorado River, resident on Atlantic Coast in Long Island and surrounding areas, southern New England, Florida, Cuba, and Yucatán Peninsula. Its breeding range extends north throughout most of north-central North America, from Utah north to Alberta east through the Great Lakes states to Nova Scotia, and south to northern Massachusetts, along with parts of Alaska adjoining Bristol and Kuskokwim Bays. Its nonbreeding range extends throughout all coastal plains in the US, including the Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plains south to Campeche, as well as the Bahamas, Turks and Caicos, Hispaniola, and Cayman Islands, along with all areas previously stated to be resident. On the Pacific Coast, range includes all areas previously mentioned to be resident, along with British Columbia and the Southern California Bight.[11]
Behavior
The double-crested cormorant swims low in the water, often with just its neck and head visible, and dives from the surface. It uses its feet for propulsion and is able to dive to a depth of 1.5–7.5 m (4 ft 11 in – 24 ft 7 in) for 30–70 seconds. After diving, it spends long periods standing with its wings outstretched to allow them to dry, since they are not fully waterproofed. This species flies low over the water, with its bill tilted slightly upward, sometimes leaving the colony in long, single-file lines.
Diet
Food can be found in the sea, freshwater lakes, and rivers. Like all cormorants, the double-crested dives to find its prey. It mainly eats fish, but will sometimes also eat amphibians, crustaceans and insects.[7] Fish are caught by diving under water. Smaller fish may be eaten while the bird is still beneath the surface but bigger prey is often brought to the surface before it is eaten. Double-crested cormorants are also considered pests to aquaculturists because of their intense predation on fish ponds which can cause thousands of dollars in losses to farmers. Cormorants regurgitate pellets containing undigested parts of their meals such as bones. These pellets can be dissected by biologists in order to discover what the birds ate.
Breeding
Breeding occurs in coastal areas as well as near inland rivers and lakes. They build stick nests in trees, on cliff edges, or on the ground on suitable islands. They are gregarious birds usually found in colonies, often with other aquatic birds, and have a deep, guttural grunt call.
Recovery
The double-crested cormorant's numbers decreased in the 1960s due to the effects of DDT. Colonies have also been persecuted from time to time in areas where they are thought to compete with human fishing.
Recently the population of double-crested cormorants has increased. Some studies have concluded that the recovery was allowed by the decrease of contaminants, particularly the discontinued use of DDT.[12] The population may have also increased because of aquaculture ponds in its southern wintering grounds. The ponds favor good over-winter survival and growth.
In 1894, Thomas McIlwraith in his book, Birds of Ontario, concludes his section on double-crested cormorants by saying: "When the young are sufficiently grown, they gather into immense flocks in unfrequented sections, and remain until the ice-lid has closed over their food supply, when they go away, not to return till the cover is lifted up in the spring."
For populations nesting in the Great Lakes region, it is believed that the colonization of the lakes by the non-native alewife (a small prey fish) has provided optimal feeding conditions and hence good breeding success. Double-crested cormorants eat other species of fish besides alewives and have been suspected of contributing to the decline of some sport-fish populations in the Great Lakes and other areas.[13]
In light of this belief, and because of calls for action by the public, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (the U.S. federal government agency charged with their protection) has recently extended control options to some other government entities. This includes culling of populations and egg addling to thwart reproduction, in an effort to control their growing numbers. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service retains oversight and the control measures are not extended to the general public (no hunting season).[14]
In May 2008, the Canadian government reduced significantly the number of nests of the birds on Middle Island, a small island in Lake Erie and part of Point Pelee National Park.[15] This is an attempt to keep the small island in balance and preserve its vegetation[16] but opponents to the plan have argued that it is based on faulty information, provided in part by anglers who view cormorants as competitors.[17] As of 2021, the cormorant culling program continues.[18]
In 2020 the government of Ontario introduced a hunting season for double-crested cormorants from September 15 to December 31, allowing any hunter to kill up to fifteen birds per day.[19]
Gallery
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Mounted skeleton of Nannopterum auritum at Smithsonian Museum of Natural History -
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In flight -
Juvenile -
Double-crested cormorant in a confrontation with a brown pelican (Pelicanus occidentalis) -
Ballard (Hiram M. Chittenden) Locks, (Seattle, Washington). -
Juvenile in the midst of throat-fluttering
.jpg)
References
- ^ BirdLife International (2018). "Nannopterum auritum". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2018 e.T22696776A133552919. Retrieved 30 September 2024.
- ^ "Nannopterum auritum". NatureServe Explorer. Retrieved 17 April 2024.
- ^ Kennedy, Martyn; Spencer, Hamish G. (1 October 2014). "Classification of the cormorants of the world". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 79: 249–257. Bibcode:2014MolPE..79..249K. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2014.06.020. ISSN 1055-7903. PMID 24994028.
- ^ "Taxonomic Updates – IOC World Bird List". Retrieved 28 July 2021.
- ^ Jobling, James A (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. pp. 62, 301. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
- ^ a b c d e Wires, Linda R.; Cuthbert, Francesca J. (March 2006). "Historic Populations of the Double-crested Cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus): Implications for Conservation and Management in the 21st Century". Waterbirds. 29 (1): 9–37. doi:10.1675/1524-4695(2006)29[9:HPOTDC]2.0.CO;2. S2CID 86270584.
- ^ a b c d "Phalacrocorax auritus". Animal Diversity Web.
- ^ a b c d e f g Alderfer, Jonathan, ed. (2008). National Geographic Complete Birds of North America. Washington, D.C.: National Geographic. p. 105. ISBN 978-0-7922-4175-1.
- ^ A new subspecies of the double-crested cormorant, Phalacrocorax auritus, from San Salvador, Bahama Islands, George E. Watson, Storrs L. Olson, and J. Robert Miller; Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington, Vol. 104, pp. 356-369.
- ^ a b c Cornell Laboratories of Ornithology. "All About Birds: Double-crested Cormorant". Retrieved 29 February 2020.
- ^ "Double-crested Cormorant (Nannopterum auritus) - BirdLife species factsheet". datazone.birdlife.org. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
- ^ Weseloh, D.V.; B. Collier (2005). "The Rise of the Double-crested Cormorant on the Great Lakes: Winning the War Against Contaminants". Environment Canada. Archived from the original on 6 July 2011.
- ^ "Double-crested Cormorants and Fisheries in the Great Lakes Basin: Fact Sheet" (PDF). US Fish & Wildlife Service. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 May 2021. Retrieved 28 February 2023.
- ^ "Special double-crested cormorant permit". ecfr.gov. National Archives: Code of Federal Regulations. 12 February 2021. Retrieved 21 October 2021.
- ^ "Earthroots". Earthroots. Archived from the original on 11 October 2008. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
- ^ Hebert, Craig E.; Duffe, Jason; Weseloh, D. V. Chip; Senese, E. M. TED; Haffner, G. Douglas (2005). Schmutz (ed.). "Unique Island Habitats May Be Threatened By Double-crested Cormorants". Journal of Wildlife Management. 69 (1): 68–76. doi:10.2193/0022-541X(2005)069<0068:UIHMBT>2.0.CO;2. S2CID 86023367.
- ^ Mackey, Barry Kent (18 August 2016). "Parks Canada mismanaging Middle Island?". Windsor Star. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
- ^ Aziz, Tahmina (26 April 2021). "Cormorant cull to begin at Point Pelee this week, but animal rights group says it's unnecessary". CBC. Retrieved 28 February 2023.
- ^ Ngabo, Gilbert (3 August 2020). "Ontario greenlights hunting of cormorants starting this fall, but York prof questions why it's going ahead". Toronto Star. Retrieved 7 January 2026.
Further reading
- Alsop, Fred J. III; Birds of Texas. Smithsonian Handbooks: DK Publishing, Inc., New York, NY (2002).
- "Phalacrocorax auritus". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 9 February 2006.
- US Fish & Wildlife Service Archived 16 July 2005 at the Wayback Machine
- McIlwraith, Thomas; The Birds of Ontario: Being a Concise Account of Every Species of Bird Known to Have Been Found. W. Briggs, Toronto, ON (1894)
- Wires, Linda A., and Francesca J. Cuthbert; "Historic Populations of the Double-crested Cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus): Implications for Conservation and Management in the 21st Century" Waterbirds 29(1): 9–37, 2006.
External links
- Double-crested cormorant – Cornell Lab of Ornithology
- Double-crested cormorant – USGS Patuxent Bird Identification InfoCenter
- Explore Species: Double-crested Cormorant at eBird (Cornell Lab of Ornithology)
- Double-crested cormorant photo gallery at VIREO (Drexel University)
- Interactive range map of Phalacrocorax auritus at IUCN Red List