Birds of a Feather: Double-Crested Cormorant

Great Blue Heron and Double-Crested Cormorants at NAS Pensacola

On a dreary January day strolling the waterfront at Naval Air Station Pensacola while waiting on my son to check-in for the week, I was treated to a variety of birds going about their daily business.  On one pier, a heron and a bunch of double-crested cormorants were trying to stay dry.  Cormorants have no oil glands to help waterproof their feathers, so they have to air dry their feathers after swimming and are often seen spreading their wings to do so.  The double-crested cormorant is named for the two tufts of feathers on its head during breeding season.

Double-Crested Cormorant in the Eagle Pool at Loess Bluffs NWR

Cormorants are very distinctive swimmers.  Riding very low in the water, their heads and upper backs are the only things visible in the water.  They dive quickly and can stay submerged for up to 70 seconds and reach depths of about 30 feet.  Small fish can be swallowed under water, but most are brought to the surface before they are swallowed.  In addition to fish, they may hunt frogs and salamanders, as well as crayfish and crabs.  Indigestible materials such as bone and crustacean shell are regurgitated in a pellet like those of owls.

I first remember hearing/reading about cormorants on Captain Kangaroo in "The Story About Ping" by Marjorie Flack and illustrated by Kurt Wiese.  It stars Ping the Duck, who lives on a wise-eyed boat with his family and human master on the yellow Yangtze River.  The master lets the ducks out to feed and when they come home, master swats the last duck on the backside.  Ping, being chronically late, decides to hide rather than go home and get his spanking.  The next day he sees a lot of boats, but not the wise-eyed boat.  One of these boats has black fishing birds with hooked beaks.  These are cormorants.  The bird would catch a fish, then return to the fishing boat, where the human master would give them a bit of fish for pay.  (What the book isn't telling you is that the fishermen tie snares around the necks of the cormorants or place rings around their necks to keep them from swallowing big fish - learned that in elementary school).

Ping dove for fish, but surfaced far from the cormorants, and followed a trail of crumbs to a houseboat, where Ping was promptly caught, trapped in a basket to await becoming supper.  SUPPER?!! No wonder we were so screwed up as kids.  I can understand a witch eating bad kids, but cute little ducks?  Yeah, I know.  As an adult, I found out that ducks are delicious.

Anyway, the little boy on the boat felt sorry for Ping, and let him go.  Ping found his way home, and swam towards his family, only to find he was going to be last again.  This time, however, he accepted his swat. Not real clear about the moral of the story, but it made an impression.  I remember this story from almost 50 years ago.  It has real staying power - first published in 1933 and made the National Education Associations "Teachers' Top 100 Books for Children" list in 2007.

Narrated Story of Ping

Double-crested cormorants overwinter in the United States south of Missouri, especially coastal areas.  These birds breed in the north-central United States and south-central Canada.  In the mid-central United States, these birds make stopovers at waterholes during Spring and Fall migrations. 

Range Map of Double-Crested Cormorant

Double-Crested Cormorant Sunning at Loess Bluffs NWR