NEOTROPIC CORMORANT

(Phalacrocorax brasilianus)

eBird offers this description of the Neotropic Cormorant:  Black body. Immatures have dark brown breast. Orange facial skin comes to a point and is bordered by thin white line. Smaller, longer-tailed and shorter-legged than Double-crested Cormorant. Dives underwater to capture fish. Often perches with spread wings to dry them out. Most widespread species of cormorant from Mexico south. In U.S., seen mostly in Texas.  All About Birds gives this basic description of the Neotropic Cormorant:  A nearly all-black waterbird with a snaky neck, the Neotropic Cormorant occurs in sheltered waters of southern U.S. states, the Caribbean, and Latin America. It is smaller and longer-tailed than other cormorants, but otherwise looks very similar to the Double-crested Cormorant, and the two species often flock together. Unlike its larger cousin, it sometimes plunge-dives for fish from a few feet above the water, almost like a booby, though it dives mostly as it paddles along the water’s surface, catching fish as it darts through the water.

I saw my first Neotropic Cormorant early on the morning of June 18, 2020.  I was headed to my doctor’s office when, crossing the Common Street Bridge in New Braunfels, Texas, I caught a glimpse of two large, dark birds in the Guadalupe River.  I pulled over, got my camera ready, and walked slowly toward them.  They turned out to be two Neotropic Cormorants, one breeding adult and one juvenile.  A few minutes later, a second juvenile flew to a nearby rock and dried its wings.  All three birds were willing subjects for my camera!