Brandt’s Cormorant

Family: Phalacrocoracidae

ID BASICS
Size: Length 34 inches; wingspan ~4 feet; slightly smaller than a goose

Key Field Marks:

  • All-black body with a long, slender neck
  • Bright blue throat pouch during breeding season
  • Long, hooked bill
  • Matte black plumage (nonbreeding); glossy with iridescence in breeding adults

Flight:

  • Direct, low flight over water
  • Rapid wingbeats with brief glides
  • Often seen in loose lines or single file along the coast
A photo of a Brandt's Cormorant on Alcatraz Island.
A Brandt's Cormorant at Alcatraz Island.

Jessica Weinberg McClosky / Parks Conservancy

A close up photo of two Brandts Cormorants, showing their stark blue eyes.
The Brandts Cormorant is known for these beautifully stark blue eyes.

Jessica Weinberg McClosky / Parks Conservancy

A scenic view of a concrete landing on Alcatraz that is occupied by a massive flock of Brandts Cormorants.
The Cormorants can frequently be spotted in huge flocks at Alcatraz.

Frank Morse / NPS

Double-crested Cormorants perched on a wooden pier posts in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area
Double-crested Cormorants perched by the water.

Will Elder / NPS

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