Cormorant, but what kind?

We see cormorants along the shores at many sites, usually posing on a piling far in the distance, most often in groups. This is the first time I have seen one close up, or fishing alone.

We were at the New Westminster Quay. I looked over the railing at the wharf, as I always do, checking out the mallard situation. The normal half-dozen were there, dabbling at the edge. And in the centre of the protected area, this guy was diving for fish.

We followed him up and down the stretch, trying to guess where he'd come up next. We were mostly wrong. However, I did get four photos; I think Laurie got a few more than that.



Ok: what kind of a cormorant is he? Orange-red on the face, smooth curve of head, blackish colouring. The books and websites give us 3 choices in this area: pelagic, Brandt's, double-crested. Audubon's Guide tells me that the double-crested has the red pouch under the bill, but I find photos with red-orange on the face for both pelagic and double-crested. The pelagic shows a crest in some photos; the double-crested has the smooth head. The pelagic is quite a bit smaller; our bird was a bit bigger than the mallards.

Based on the size, I vote for pelagic.* What do you think?


Fishing alone in silvery water. We saw no companion anywhere.


It was a silvery water day. And as cold as it looks.

*All cormorants (35 or so species, if I remember correctly) are classified in the genus Phalacrocorax; the pelagic is P. pelagicus, the double-crested is P. auritus. The name derives from φαλακρός (phalakros, "bald") and κόραξ (korax, "raven"), via latinized Ancient Greek. (Wikipedia) "Bald", as I understand it, refers to the featherless pouch under the bill (red-orange in our find).