Great Cormorant
Phalacrocorax carbo
The cormorant's plumage is not fully waterproof, which makes diving easier. After hunting it therefore often perches on a post or branch with its wings spread to dry them.
- Group
- Waders & Waterbirds
- Photos
- 3
- Taken
- 2021–2025
Profile: Great Cormorant
- Family
- Cormorants and shags (Phalacrocoracidae)
- Size
- 77–94 cm
- Wingspan
- approx. 121–149 cm
- Weight
- approx. 1.7–3.2 kg
- Habitat
- Lakes, larger rivers and coasts rich in fish; it breeds in colonies, inland mostly in tall trees, on the coast on cliffs or on the ground.
- Diet
- Almost exclusively small to medium-sized fish, pursued underwater using its feet for propulsion and seized with its hooked bill.
- When to see
- Resident and short-distance migrant; in Germany often seen all year, with regular passage birds heading for western and south-western Europe.
Learn more: Wikipedia · NABU (German)