Cormorants and shags are distributed worldwide and occupy a unique sampling space that is often associated with areas of high biological productivity. Marine species provide an opportunity to collect fine scale observations and measurements in coastal regions across the globe.
Our Project Species and Tagging Locations
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July 27, 2022 - MAY 16, 2022 - SEPTEMBER 7, 2020 - JULY 27, 2020 - A field season on Middleton Island: Tracking pelagic cormorants in the Gulf of Alaska - By Brendan Higgins, Jillan Soller and Adam Peck-Richardson
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Photo by Adam Peck-Richardson
Double-crested Cormorant (Nannopterum auratus)
Photo by Alexa Piggott
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The Double-crested Cormorant is a large cormorant (1.2- 2.5 kg) with a wide distribution throughout North America. It breeds from the Aleutian Islands to northwest Mexico along the Pacific Coast, and from Newfoundland to Cuba along the Atlantic Coast. Inland populations are also found throughout the Canadian and US interior, including the Great Lakes. This species utilizes a wide range of coastal marine habitats, including estuaries, mangrove swamps, rocky coastlines, and coastal islands, as well as inland lakes, rivers, marshes, and ponds.
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Tagging Locations
Columbia River estuary, Oregon & Washington - 2014 |
East Sand Island, Columbia River Estuary.
Photo by Alexa Piggott
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Photo by Bird Research NW
Brandt’s Cormorant (Urile penicillatus)
Photo by Alexa Piggott
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The Brandt’s Cormorant is a large cormorant (1.4 - 2.6 kg) endemic to the California Current system. It breeds along the entire West Coast from Alaska to Mexico. It is a marine specialist, inhabiting nearshore coastal waters, large bays, and occasionally estuaries or coastal lagoons.
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Tagging locations
Columbia River estuary, Oregon & Washington - 2014, 2019, 2022 - OngoingSan Luis Obispo Bay, California - 2018 Southeast Farallon Islands, California - 2021 |
Photo by Adam Peck-Richardson
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Photo by Brendan Higgins
Pelagic Cormorant (Urile pelagicus)
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The Pelagic Cormorant is a medium sized cormorant (1.2 - 2 kg) and is the smallest of the North Pacific species. It breeds in Northeast Asia, from the bearing strait south to the Kuril Islands, Russia, and in North America, from northern Alaska to Baja California, Mexico. As a marine specialist, it utilizes nearshore, coastal habitats and typically breeds on rocky habitat along outer coasts, bays, inlets, and estuaries.
Tagging Locations
Columbia River estuary, Oregon & Washington – 2019Middleton Island, Alaska – 2020 |
Photo by Adam Peck-Richardson
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Photo by Sabir Bin Muzaffar
Socotra Cormorant (Phalacrocorax nigrogularis)
Photo by Sabir Bin Muzaffar
Tagging Locations
Butina and Siniya Island, UAE – 2020 – Ongoing Hawar Island, Bahrain – 2021 – Ongoing Socotra Islands, Yemen – 2021 (Pilot Study) – Ongoing |
The Socotra Cormorant is a medium sized (1.3 - 1.8 kg), slim, long-billed cormorant. It's known range is restricted to the Arabian Gulf, the Gulf of Oman, and south into the Gulf of Aden. The species is exclusively marine and breeds on barren desert islands.
Socotra Cormorant populations have declined throughout their range since the 1980s and the species is currently categorized as Vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). |
Photo credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/blacktigersdream/26993665092/
Great Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo)
Photo by Julius Morkūnas
Tagging Locations
Klaipeda, Lithuania – 2021 |
The Great Cormorant (2.6 - 3.7 kg) is the most widely distributed of all species and has a breeding distribution across Europe, Africa, Asia, Australasia, and eastern North America. This species is a generalist and found in both freshwater and coastal habitats through much of its range.
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Photo Credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/birdingperu/6236610625/
Guanay Cormorant (Leucocarbo bougainvillii)
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Tagging Locations
Isla Pescadores, Peru - 2022 |
The Guanay Cormorant (2 kg) is distributed on the Pacific Coast of South America and is closely tied to the Humboldt Current. As a resident along the coasts of Peru and Chile, this species is a marine specialist and breeds on offshore islands and remote headlands.
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Photo Credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/heatherw/6930070115/
Black-faced Cormorant (Phalacrocorax fuscescens)
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Tagging locations
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The Black-faced cormorant is a medium sized cormorant, weighing around 1.5kg, and is found along the coasts of South Australia, with two independent populations: one in Southwestern Australia; and one in South Australia, Victoria, and Tasmania. As a costal species, it feeds in nearshore habitats, including bays and inlets and breeds on sea cliffs and rocky islands.
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Imperial Cormorant/Shag (Leucocarbo atriceps)
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The Imperial Cormorant (Leucocarbo atriceps) is a medium to large sized cormorant, weighing around 1.7 – 2.7kg. This species is a marine species of South American waters and resident in Argentina, Chile, and the Falkland Islands.
Tagging Locations
Falkland Islands - May 2022 |
Cape Cormorant (Phalacrocorax capensis)
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Tagging Locations
Cape Cormorant - December 2022 |
The Cape Cormorant (Phalacrocorax capensis) is a medium sized cormorant, weighing around 1.1-1.3kg. This species range covers costal Southern Africa. It breeds on the coasts of Angola, Namibia and W & S South Africa, with significant post breeding dispersal north as far as the Republic of Congo and Southern Mozambique. It is an almost exclusively marine forager, fishing in the cold waters of the Benguela Current.
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Photo Credit: Sampath Seneviratne
Indian Cormorant (Phalacrocorax fuscicollis)
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Tagging Locations
Sri Lanka - 2023 
Photo Credit: Sampath Seneviratne
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The Indian Cormorant is a small cormorant (600 – 790g). It is distributed throughout India and Sri Lanka and into Indochina. The species is a generalist and found in both freshwater and coastal habitats through much of its range.
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Photo Credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/129662450@N02/16390996720/
Spotted Shag (Phalacrocorax punctatus)
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Tagging Locations
Hauraki Gulf, New Zealand - 2023 |
The Spotted Shag (Phalacrocorax punctatus) is a marine species, found throughout coastal New Zealand and breeds on cliffs along rocky coastlines and inshore islands. This species forages in bays, inlets, and estuaries but also in deep offshore waters.
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