When hunting, the neotropic cormorant spends only a few seconds underwater, usually between five and fifteen seconds. It drives itself beneath the surface by beating its feet, a method that lets it chase down its prey quickly. Its diet is dominated by small fish, which it snaps up during these brief dives. This rapid, foot-propelled foraging lets the bird exploit abundant shallow fish without lingering long underwater.
The neotropic cormorant prefers very tiny fish, often less than 10 cm long, such as the sail-fin molly Poecilia latipinna. These prey weigh only a gram or two, making them easy to capture in the shallow ponds and sheltered inlets the bird frequents. Inland populations especially target these abundant, small fish that crowd the water's edge. By focusing on such minute prey, the cormorant can feed efficiently in both coastal and inland habitats.
The species entered scientific literature when Dutch naturalist Willem Piso recorded it in Brazil in 1658. His observations later formed the foundation for Johann Friedrich Gmelin's formal description and naming of the bird in 1789. This early documentation anchored the neotropic cormorant's taxonomic history, linking its South-American discovery to its later classification. The initial record thus paved the way for the species' subsequent scientific study.
A 2014 DNA study placed it in the resurrected genus Nannopterum, grouping it with the double-crested and flightless cormorants. The analysis showed those three species form a clade that is sister to the genus Leucocarbo, confirming a close evolutionary relationship. Because of this, all three were transferred to Nannopterum, a genus originally created in 1899 by Richard Bowdler Sharpe to house the flightless cormorant.
Sources
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In the lush, vibrant wetlands of its native habitat, the Neotropic Cormorant glides effortlessly, its sleek, black silhouette slicing through the water with a quiet elegance. As it swims, its long, serpentine neck cranes forward, scanning the depths for the unsuspecting fish that will become its next meal, its piercing gaze a testament to its role as a masterful predator. With each powerful stroke of its wings, the cormorant rises from the surface, its feathers glistening with dew, as it takes to the skies, a dark, majestic form against the brilliant tropical light.
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