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Alternate functions suggested for the spread-wing posture include that it aids thermoregulation [14] or digestion, balances the bird, or indicates presence of fish. A detailed study of the great cormorant concluded there is little doubt that is serves to dry the plumage. [15] [16] [17] Cormorants are colonial nesters, using trees, rocky islets ...
The male is a glossy black-green with the wings, base of wings, and tail a glossy black-blue. [14] The tip of the tail is white. [15] The back of the head and the neck have elongated feathers that have been described as gray [16] or light purple-white. [14] The upper back of the body and wings are spotted or streaked with white. [16]
The pied cormorant can often be seen spreading its wings after diving to help dry the feathers, as it has inadequate waterproofing. This lack of feather waterproofing may help the cormorant spend longer underwater due to decreased buoyancy effects. [10] The two subspecies have slight differences in physical characteristics. [11]
This genus name was originally coined for the flightless cormorant (N. harrisi), which does have very small wings; although the double-crested cormorant has normal-sized wings, it (along with the neotropic cormorant, N. brasilianum) was still reclassified into the genus Nannopterum when the relationship between it and the flightless cormorant ...
Like other cormorant species, the black-faced cormorant is a large aquatic bird, with a long hooked bill, webbed feet, and monochromatic plumage. [ 2 ] [ 3 ] This is one of the largest cormorants found in south-western Australia [ 2 ] and has pied plumage with the upper half of its body black and the undersides white.
The little black cormorant is a small cormorant measuring 60–65 cm (23.5–25.5 in) with all black plumage. The back has a greenish sheen. [8] In breeding season, white feathers appear irregularly about the head and neck, with a whitish eyebrow evident. The plumage is a more fade brown afterwards. [9] Males and females are identical in plumage.
drying wings Lake Baringo, Kenya. This is a small cormorant, 50–55 cm (20–22 in) in overall length with a wingspan of 80–90 cm (31–35 in). [7] It is mainly black, glossed green, in the breeding season. The wing coverts are silvery. It has a longish tail, a short head crest and a red or yellow face patch. The bill is yellow.
Flightless cormorant drying its wings. The flightless cormorant is the largest extant member of its family, 89–100 cm (35–39.5 in) in length and weighing 2.5–5.0 kg (5.5–11.0 lb), and its wings are about one-third the size that would be required for a bird of its proportions to fly.