Phalacrocorax carbo - Cormorant

Cormorants are large, long-necked black birds that swim low in the water and are able to dive and move about under water with great agility; this capacity makes them very effective at catching fish, on which they feed.

You will see cormorants in the British Isles all the year round. Many spend most of the year, including the breeding season, near the coast but move inland when the rivers are low in summer and food there is easy to catch. Some cormorants breed inland; they are considered a serious predator of trout and coarse fish on still-water fisheries and on some rivers.

Breeding areas at the coast include islands and cliffs beside shallow seas and estuaries; inland, they roost in trees and their droppings can sometimes kill the trees they roost in.

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