Indian Cormorant   

Indian Cormorant's description

The Indian cormorant or Indian shag (Phalacrocorax fuscicollis) is a member of the cormorant family. It is found mainly along the inland waters of the Indian Subcontinent but extending west to Sind and east to Thailand and Cambodia. It is a gregarious species that can be easily distinguished from the similar sized little cormorant by its blue eye, small head with a sloping forehead and a long narrow bill ending in a hooked tip.

This medium-sized bronze brown cormorant is scalloped in black on the upper plumage, lacks a crest and has a small and slightly peaked head with a long narrow bill that ends in a hooked tip. The eye is blue and bare yellow facial skin during the non-breeding season. Breeding birds have a short white ear tuft. In some plumages it has a white throat but the white is restricted below the gape unlike in the much larger great cormorant. Sexes are similar, but non-breeding adults and juveniles are browner.

This cormorant fishes gregariously in inland rivers or large wetlands of peninsular India and northern part of Sri Lanka. It also occurs in estuaries and mangroves but not on the open coast. They breed very locally in mixed species breeding colonies. They extend north-east to Assam and eastward into Thailand, Myanmar and Cambodia. Indian Cormorant is an occasional visitor to Maldives.

Indian Cormorant's facts

Did you know?

• Cormorant colonies can have up to 4,000 members. Many of the species will hunt together. 
• On average, a cormorant of any species can reach speeds of up to 55 kilometers per hour. 
• Cormorants live to be about 25 years old. 
• Cormorant eggs and offspring are the primary prey to larger predatory birds, such as eagles, gulls and crows. However, ground colonies can be vulnerable to foxes and racoons. 
• Cormorants have short wings due to their need to swim. Due to this, they have the highest flight cost of any other bird.

Indian Cormorant's Behavior & Ecology

The Indian cormorant makes short dives to capture fish and a group will often fish communally, forming a broad front to drive fish into a corner. An echinostomatid parasite has been described from Sindh from this species.

Indian Cormorant's Feeding

The Indian Cormorant can dive to considerable depths, but usually feeds in shallow water. It frequently brings prey to the surface. A wide variety of fish are taken.

Indian Cormorant's Reproduction

They breed very locally in mixed species breeding colonies. They extend north-east to Assam and eastward into Thailand, Myanmar and Cambodia. Indian Cormorant is an occasional visitor to Maldives.

The breeding season is July to February but depends on rainfall and water conditions. In northern India, they breed from July to February and in Sri Lanka, between November and February. The nest is a platform of twigs placed in the forks of partially submerged trees or those growing on islands. The nests are placed in close proximity to those of other Indian cormorants, storks or water birds in dense colonies, often with several tiers of nests. The usual clutch is three to five eggs which are bluish green and with a chalky surface.

Indian Cormorant's Conservation

Indian Cormorant is an occasional visitor to Maldives. All migratory birds are protected by law in Maldives.

IUCN consider this species as 'Least Concern'.

Indian Cormorant threats

Indian Cormorant's status