Illustration from Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia/Corbis
Double-Crested Cormorant
Phalacrocorax auritus auritus
Subspecies of Cormorant
October 20, 1805, observed on the Columbia River, below the mouth of the Umatilla River, Oregon.
A solidly built black cormorant with orange throat pouch and long neck. Long hooked bill tilted upward when bird swims. In flight, the neck shows a slight crook, not seen in the similar Brandt's cormorant, the larger great cormorant, or the smaller neotropic. Length: 30-35 (76-89 cm).
Deep guttural grunts.
Lakes, rivers, swamps, and coasts.
Breeds locally in interior from Alaska, Manitoba, and Newfoundland south to Mexico and Bahamas. Winters mainly on coasts, north to Alaska and southern New England.
In the West, it is the only cormorant that nests commonly in the interior.
