Little Black Cormorant

Fascinating facts about the Little Black Cormorant

• In 1837 Johann Friedrich von Brandt first described this bird, placing it in a now-obsolete genus called Carbo before it was moved to Phalacrocorax – a reminder that scientific names can travel as far as the birds themselves.
• Measuring just 60–65 cm long, it sports a sleek black coat that flashes a greenish sheen on the back, proving that even the smallest cormorants can look like living emeralds in the water.
• A 2019 DNA study showed it split from its closest cousin, the Indian cormorant, about 2.5–3.2 million years ago, highlighting how recent some bird lineages are on the geological clock.
• When feeding, groups of up to several hundred birds form a tight 10-20 m line, taking off together, skimming the surface, then diving to snatch fish – a coordinated dance that shows how teamwork can turn a flock into a moving net.
• In the wild it lays three to five pale-blue eggs, each 48 × 32 mm, on a modest stick platform built in water-logged trees, often alongside herons or spoonbills, illustrating how many waterbirds share the same real-estate to raise their young.

At a glance

About the Little Black Cormorant

The little black cormerant (Phalacrocorax sulcirostris) is a sleek, sixty-centimetre bird cloaked in glossy black plumage that shimmers green along the back, its eyes a vivid blue-green. A slender grey bill and black legs complete the striking silhouette, while breeding adults sprout irregular white feathers around the head and a faint whitish eyebrow, a fleeting contrast before the plumage fades to a softer brown after the season. This monotypic species inhabits the freshwater arteries of Australia, New Zealand’s North Island, the Malay Peninsula, Indonesia (excluding Sumatra) and New Guinea, favouring inland rivers, lakes and occasionally sheltered coastal waters where it is almost always seen perched or diving near the surface.

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