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Class:
Aves
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Order:
Ciconiiformes
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Family:
Phalacrocoracidae
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Genus:
Phalacrocorax
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Species:
penicillatus
| Brandt's Cormorant |
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General description.
The most distinguishing features of the Brandt's Cormorant, in breeding season, is the bright cobalt-blue throat pouch, bordered with yellow, and white plumes on its neck and back. This bird has a dark, blunt bill, which is hooked at its tip, and its wing tips are darker still. Its name honors the German naturalist, Johann Friedrich von Brandt of the Academy of Sciences at St. Petersburg.Juvenile appearance.
The immature Brandt's is brownish-black with tan underparts.Flight pattern.
Brandt's Cormorants often gather in flocks of several hundred and fly to feeding grounds in long straggling lines.Breeding habits.
This bird breeds on the Alaskan coast, and breeds and resides in Pacific Coast states, and places like Alcatraz Island.Population and distribution.
The Brandt's Cormorant moves along the Pacific Coast only as far south as the Gulf of California.Nesting habits.
The Brandt's couple are truly a team. The male seduces its mate to the nesting sight. She builds a nest of material he brings from the sea, such as seaweed and algae and held together by droppings. Both take turns incubating the four eggs she lays. This species and the Pelagic Cormorant frequently nest on the same cliffs, with Brandt's forming colonies on level ground at the top of the cliff and the Pelagic choosing inaccessible ledges.Similar birds:
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Double-crested Cormorant |
Birds in the same Family:
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Double-crested Cormorant |
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Great Cormorant |
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Neotropic Cormorant |
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Pelagic Cormorant |
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Red-faced Cormorant |
Brandt's Cormorant
Common names:
Brandt's Cormorant
Scientific Name:
Phalacrocorax penicillatus
Tags:
All black "marine bird", long body and neck
Brandt's Cormorant Data:
Length: 35 in
ABA Score: 1
Relative size:
Roughly Hawk-sized