VICKSBURG, MISS. — Double-crested Cormorants (Phalacrocorax auritus) often visit the little lake behind my place in Vicksburg, and they’re lots of fun to watch. It’s often said that cormorants “run” to take off from the water, but that’s not quite accurate.
During takeoff, cormorants do not “run” by putting one foot in front of the other. They actually move both legs together and hop across the water. They hit the water with both feet, launch themselves forward, pump their wings downward and pull — splash, whoosh, push, pull — and eventually get fully airborne. (See it in slow motion.) Pelicans use a similar technique.
Some other waterbirds, including diving ducks, grebes, and loons, actually do run at takeoff, putting one foot in front of the other like this male Surf Scoter (Melanitta perspicillata), which I photographed a couple of weeks ago on a pelagic trip out of San Diego.
A couple more backyard cormorant shots just for fun:
Cormorants ride low in the water because their feathers are less water resistant than those of many other water birds. Many people believe that this is because cormorants lack a uropygial (preen) gland and therefore cannot coat their feathers with oil, but in fact, it is primarily the structural characteristics of feathers that allow them to shed water. Cormorant feathers are structurally less resistant to water, which lets them dive more easily after their fishy prey.
- Breeding-plumaged Neotropic Cormorants
- Mexico’s Coronado Islands: Brown Boobies, cormorants, oystercatchers, and pinnipeds
- Counting Canvasbacks and cormorants
- In fire and in water
- Pelagic birding in the Gulf of Mexico: Mississippi Canyon in September