Deep-diving, dock-sitting birds entertaining, fun to watch

Let’s start this article with a question for our readers.

 

What can fly over 30 mph, dive to depths of 150 to 200 feet, and probably – sorry, Greg – out-fish our own Captain Greg Peralta?

 

That’s a tall order, indeed, but Nannopterum auritum is no ordinary bird! The double-crested cormorant can do all of these things and more.

 

There are six species of cormorants native to North America, but the double-crested cormorant is the one most commonly seen in the Lowcountry. These birds can be found in and around nearly any body of water, from the Santee Cooper lakes to the Atlantic Ocean. Nationally, they are common from coast to coast. 

 

Around the Lowcountry, they can be seen standing atop dock pilings with their wings extended to dry their feathers.

 

Cormorants move from as far north as northern Canada and Alaska during breeding season to as far south as Baja California, the Yucatán Peninsula, and Cuba in the winter. In many places, like the coastlines of the Southeastern United States, there are birds present all year.

 

The cormorant has to stay near water because it eats primarily fish. An adult bird, with a wingspan of up to four feet and weighing as much as five pounds, can eat between one and one-and-a-half pounds of fish per day.

 

I recently watched a cormorant fishing in Key West, Florida. Once underwater, the bird looked much more like some species of predator fish than a bird, darting and zipping about, until eventually coming up with its prey. 

 

The clear water of the Keys made it almost like watching in a swimming pool.

 

Cormorants are colonial nesters and will nest by the thousands on the ground, on reefs, on cliffs, or in trees. Trees in areas chosen as colonies don’t tend to survive long, as the large amounts of guano eventually kill most of them over a few seasons.

 

A cormorant pair will build their nest together. The female will then lay an average of four eggs, which will be incubated for three to four weeks. Once hatched, the young birds will remain for another three to four weeks before leaving the nest.

 

Everyone loves success stories, and the double-crested cormorant definitely is one. The North American population has grown by leaps and bounds in recent decades. But as we know, ecosystems are a balancing act. What might be the result if a highly-adapted and highly-skilled fishing species expands rapidly over a period of time?

 

That’s right – less fish.

 

Not only do humans eat fish, but some catch them for a living, and some raise them commercially in privately-owned ponds. This has put the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in a bit of a bind.

 

Cormorants are protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act with Canada, Japan, Mexico, and Russia. They are also not game birds, so hunting quotas cannot be adjusted to keep the population in check. In recent years, the fish and wildlife service has authorized permits for the removal of cormorants in areas where it was deemed necessary and appropriate.

 

Keep an eye out for our double-crested cormorants, especially on docks and piers or atop pilings along our creeks and waterways. They are highly entertaining to watch and, sadly, they are far better fishermen than I will ever be!