A couple of times in the past fortnight I’ve been asked to identify phone shots of cormorants when the photographer was unsure whether they had seen a Pied or a Little Pied Cormorant. There are several easy ways to tell them apart, even from a distance or from a blurry photograph.
Pied Cormorants are larger than Little Pieds, but this isn’t always helpful as they rarely deign to stand next to each other to help us out. Pieds measure about 70-75cm compared with an average size for the Little Pied of 58cm. Occasionally a Little Pied can be up to about 68cm which is fairly close to a Pied. Luckily there are other ways to tell them apart.
Both species dry their outstretched wings after diving for food. Unlike ducks, ‘water off a duck’s back’, cormorants’ wings absorb water. This feature enables them to stay underwater for longer as it avoids the buoyancy from trapped air bubbles.
If you compare the facial features on the two images above you will notice several differences. The length, shape and colour of the bill is significantly different. The Pied Cormorant has a longer, paler bill with a more defined hook. The Little Pied’s bill is orange-yellow and comparatively stubby. Pied Cormorants have orange-yellow facial skin in front of their eye and a pinkish gular pouch, these diagnostic features are often very helpful when identifying from a distance. The Pieds have a blueish eye-ring and a green iris. The tail of the Little Pied is noticeably longer than the Pied’s tail.
Another fabulous difference is the Pied Cormorant’s black thighs. Sometimes this is the only feature that can easily be discerned.
In the photograph above you can see that the Little Pied Cormorant is white below and black above, without the distinctive black thighs of the Pied Cormorant.
I have a soft spot for Little Pied Cormorants, which blossomed even more when a child was told that I was photographing a penguin; as I shared in Little Pied ‘Penguin’
Happy birding, Kim
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This is a very handy guide, thank you!
Thanks Alyssa! My pleasure 🙂 and thank you for teaching me so much about kangaroos
I live by Port Phillip bay, and see pied cormies everywhere – perched on a pier or rocky groyne, they are lovely to see, as they hang their wings out to dry. I did not know that their wings absorb water to prevent buoyancy – so thanks for that fun fact! They are fearless divers, and plunge down into the sea, holding their breath for ages, it seems to me, as I watch for them to bob up again. I never see little Pied cormies – I wonder if they are compatible with the larger species? Or do the bigger Pied cormies chase them away? And yes, I do hear many people passing me by, who point and say – ‘Ooh! Look at the penguins!” This astonishes me, as they look nothing like penguins! Unless people are confused, because cormies also have black and white plumage. You might as well mistake a magpie for a penguin, in that case!
They look pretty awesome hanging their wings out to dry don’t they. I have photographs of both together, which clearly shows the size difference. When the parent said it was a penguin I could actually see what she meant. If you look at the tagged photographs you might be able to see it too. At first I was totally baffled!