Great Cormorant
Adelaide, March 2021
As their name would suggest these are the largest of the Cormorants here in Australia. The Great Cormorant is almost entirely black in plumage, young birds resemble the adults but are more dusky-brown. The above bird I am guessing by the colour is immature.
Adelaide, March 2021.
The have a white and yellow chin. In the wild I have a great deal of trouble getting close to them or watching them hunt. Not so in Adelaide where they are pretty much unafraid of people.
Tablelands Swamp, April 2021.
The bill is grey and the legs and feet are black. Notice the small white patch on the thigh of the bird above. That patch will fade away in winter.
They are found throughout Australia but are more common in the South West and East. The Great Cormorant feeds mainly on fish, supplemented in freshwater by crustaceans, various aquatic insects and frogs. They swim with their feet underwater chasing prey and often stay under for a minute or so.
When they are breeding they form colonies of up to thousands but outside that period you often see them feeding alone.