Double-crested Cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus)

- No description given -

comments (5)

Ferdy Christant

Lion

With a nice heron photo bomb :) Looks like a great area for birding. Posted 8 years ago
1. Joe Spandrusyszyn
  
  Lion
  
  Not sure how I didn't notice the heron before...
  
  The Lake Apopka Trail is definitely a great place for large birds... tons of cormorants, herons (3 species that I've seen), osprey, turkey vultures, anhingas, egrets (2 species that I've seen), gallinules... and I've seen one Bald Eagle fly by. Supposedly lots of other big birds in the area too, but not that I've seen so far (might be only around in certain seasons, or in areas of the trail I haven't been to yet).
  
  I haven't seen many smaller birds in the area yet... but that's probably because I've been distracted by all the big birds, alligators, and swarms of dragonflies.
  
  This area is my favorite area so far since we moved to Florida. Unfortunately, it's a little out of the way for me (plus I've been very busy lately), so I've only been twice. Posted 8 years ago
2. 1. Ferdy Christant
    
    Lion
    
    If big birds can be sustained, it usually is a very good sign for the ecosystem. For small birds, it might be interesting to experiment with audio playbacks. Posted 8 years ago
  2. 1. Joe Spandrusyszyn
      
      Lion
      
      From what I've gathered from what little I've read about the area so far, it used to be a very polluted lake, and cleanup started about 30 years ago, and since then bird counts have been rising steadily. I saw one news story a couple weeks ago about somebody who saw dozens of alligators in one small area, which apparently has previously been unheard of, and the story suggested that this meant the water quality has vastly improved. I'm looking forward to returning and seeing how the wildlife changes through the seasons. Hopefully, wildlife numbers keep improving so I get more and more great sightings. Posted 8 years ago
    2. 1. Ferdy Christant
        
        Lion
        
        How exciting to see nature spreading and improving :) Posted 8 years ago

The Double-crested cormorant

The double-crested cormorant is a member of the cormorant family of seabirds. It occurs along inland waterways as well as in coastal areas, and is widely distributed across North America, from the Aleutian Islands in Alaska down to Florida and Mexico.

Info 34 0

Similar species: Sulids

Species identified by Joe Spandrusyszyn