Wednesday, June 24, 2020

Bird Watching - Little Cormorant

Little Cormorant



A glistening black duck like water bird with a long stiff tail and skender, compressed bill sharply hooked at the tip. The eyes, gular skin and face are dark. In the non-breeding bird or juvenile, the plumage is brownish and the bill and gular skin can appear more fleshy. 

Local Names : Pan Kowwa, Ganhill (Hindi)
                     Neer Kagam (Tamil)
                     Kakataravu (Malayalam)

Scientific Name : Phalacrocorax niger




It inhabits wetlands, ranging from small village ponds to large lakes



Little cormorants tend to forage mainly in small loose groups and are often seen foraging alone. They swim underwater to capture their prey, mainly fish. Lives exclusively on fish which it chases and captures under water.


Like all other cormorants, they will emerge from water and will hold out their wings and stay immobile for a while. The behaviour has been suggested to be for wing-drying.





Nest is a shallow twig platform, like a crow's in trees usually in mixed colonies of egrets, storks etc both near and away from water. eggs are pale bluish green with a chalky surface. The clutch size can vary from two to six eggs laid at intervals of about two days. The eggs hatch after 15 to 21 days. The downy chicks have a bare red head. The young birds are able to leave the nest after about a month




References
The Book of Indian Birds (Salim Ali)
Wikipedia

Pictures:
Pallikaranai Wetlands (2019)

 The pictures are not that sharp as its taken on a rainy day.

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