Little black cormorant
The little black cormorant (Phalacrocorax sulcirostris) is a member of the cormorant family of seabirds. It is common in smaller rivers and lakes throughout most areas of Australia and northern New Zealand, where it is known as the little black shag. It is around sixty centimetres long, and is all black with blue-green eyes.
| Little black cormorant | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Suliformes |
| Family: | Phalacrocoracidae |
| Genus: | Phalacrocorax |
| Species: | P. sulcirostris |
| Binomial name | |
| Phalacrocorax sulcirostris (Brandt, 1837) | |
| Synonyms | |
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Taxonomy
The little black cormorant was formally described in 1837 by the German born naturalist Johann Friedrich von Brandt. He placed it in the genus Carbo and coined the binomial name Carbo sulcirostris.[2] The species is now placed in the genus Phalacrocorax that was introduced by the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in 1760.[3][4] The genus name Phalacrocorax is the Latin word for a cormorant. The specific epithet sulcirostris combines the Latin sulcus meaning "furrow" with -rostris meaning "-billed".[5] The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.[4] The common name in New Zealand is the little black shag.[6]
A molecular phylogenetic study published in 2019 found that the little black cormorant was sister to the Indian cormorant. It is estimated that the two species split 2.5–3.2 million years ago during the late Pliocene.[7]
Description
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. The long slender bill is grey,[6] and legs and feet black. The iris of the adult is green and the juvenile brown. Immature birds have brown and black plumage.[9]
Distribution and habitat
The little black cormorant ranges from the Malay Peninsula through Indonesia (but excluding Sumatra) and New Guinea (including the D'Entrecasteaux Islands) and throughout Australia.[10] It is found in New Zealand's North Island.[6] It is a predominantly freshwater species, found in bodies of water inland and occasionally sheltered coastal areas. It is almost always encountered in or near water.[8]
Behaviour
More gregarious than other cormorants, the little black cormorant can be found in large flocks. Groups sometimes fly in V formations.[8]
Food and feeding
The little black cormorant feeds mainly on fish, and eats a higher proportion of fish than the frequently co-occurring little pied cormorant, which eats more decapods. A field study at two storage lakes, Lake Cargelligo and Lake Brewster, in south-western New South Wales found that the introduced common carp made up over half of its food intake.[11]
Little black cormorants have been observed on the Wyong River, Central Coast, NSW, Australia. They feed in a pattern as a flock. Traveling in the same direction they take off from the water, flapping their wings against the water moving in the same direction for a few metres then land on the water and wait for others to land in front of them while they dive below the water to catch the scrambling fish groups. They are observed coming to the surface swallowing fish and then moving forward again. A group of cormorants can be in the hundreds and stay in a tight formation of 10 to 20 metres while moving forward.[12]
Breeding
Breeding occurs once a year in spring or autumn in southern Australia, and before or after the monsoon in tropical regions. The nest is a small platform built of dried branches and sticks in the forks of trees that are standing in water. Nests are often located near other waterbirds such as other cormorants, herons, ibis, or spoonbills. Three to five (rarely six or seven) pale blue oval eggs measuring 48 x 32 mm are laid. The eggs are covered with a thin layer of lime, giving them a matte white coated appearance. They become increasingly stained with faeces, as does the nest, over the duration of the breeding season.[13]
Various views and plumages
Adult in East Perth
Manly (near Sydney)
Pair in flight
References
- BirdLife International (2016). "Phalacrocorax sulcirostris". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T22696788A93586929. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22696788A93586929.en. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
- von Brandt, Johann Friedrich (1837). "Observation sur plusiers espèces nouvelles du gendre Carbo ou Phalacrocorax, qui se trouvent dans le Muséum de L'Académie des Sciences de St. Petersboug". Bulletin Scientifique publié par l'Académie Impériale des Sciences de Saint Pétersbourg (in French and Latin). 3 (4). cols. 53-57 [56].
- Brisson, Mathurin Jacques (1760). Ornithologie, ou, Méthode Contenant la Division des Oiseaux en Ordres, Sections, Genres, Especes & leurs Variétés (in French and Latin). Paris: Jean-Baptiste Bauche. Vol. 1, p. 60, Vol. 6, p. 511.
- Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (August 2022). "Storks, frigatebirds, boobies, darters, cormorants". IOC World Bird List Version 12.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 21 November 2022.
- Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. pp. 301, 373. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
- Falla, Robert Alexander; Sibson, Richard Broadley; Turbott, Evan Graham (1972) [1966]. The New Guide to the Birds of New Zealand. Collins. p. 67. ISBN 0-00-212022-4.
- Kennedy, M.; Seneviratne, S.S.; Rawlence, N.J.; Ratnayake, S.; Spencer, H.G. (2019). "The phylogenetic placement of the enigmatic Indian Cormorant, Phalacrocorax fuscicollis (Phalacrocoracidae)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 130: 227–232. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2018.10.019.
- "Little Black Cormorant". Australian Museum - Birds in Backyards. Retrieved 2 August 2012.
- Slater, Peter (1970). A Field Guide to Australian Birds:Non-passerines. Adelaide: Rigby. pp. 207–08. ISBN 0-85179-102-6.
- Sibley, Charles Gald; Monroe, Burt Leavelle (1990). Distribution and Taxonomy of Birds of the World. Yale University Press. p. 300. ISBN 0300049692. Retrieved 2 August 2012.
- Miller, B. (1979). "Ecology of the Little Black Cormorant, Phalacrocorax sulcirostris, and Little Pied Cormorant, P. Melanoleucos, in Inland New South Wales I. Food and Feeding Habits". Wildlife Research. 6: 79–95. doi:10.1071/WR9790079.
- "Little Black Cormorant". Birdlife Australia. Retrieved 1 May 2022.
- Beruldsen, Gordon (2003). Australian Birds: Their Nests and Eggs. Kenmore Hills, Qld: self. p. 191. ISBN 0-646-42798-9.
Further reading
- Marchant, S.; Higgins, P.G., eds. (1990). "Phalacrocorax sulcirostris Little Black Shag" (PDF). Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds. Volume 1: Ratites to ducks; Part B, Australian pelican to ducks. Melbourne, Victoria: Oxford University Press. pp. 830–838. ISBN 978-0-19-553068-1.