The Double-crested Cormorant is a large, all-dark waterbird often seen perched on a piling or dead snag with its wings spread wide to dry, a posture as distinctive as any in the bird world. In the water it rides low with only its snaky neck and hook-tipped bill showing, then dives to chase fish underwater, propelled by powerful webbed feet. Up close the orange-yellow throat pouch and startling turquoise eyes stand out; the two wispy head "crests" that give the species its name appear only briefly in the breeding season.
Cormorants nest in noisy colonies on Great Lakes islands and inland lakes, and their numbers rebounded dramatically after the banning of DDT, to the point where they are now sometimes managed to protect fisheries and vegetation. Their feathers are less waterproof than those of ducks, which lets them dive efficiently but forces the familiar wing-drying pose afterward. In Michigan they are a warm-season fixture, departing as the waters cool.
An underwater pursuit diver that feeds almost entirely on fish, taking whatever is locally abundant, along with some crayfish and amphibians. It swims down and seizes prey with its hooked bill, then surfaces to swallow it, often bringing larger fish up to subdue at the surface.
Cormorant feathers are only partly waterproof, which reduces buoyancy and helps the bird dive. After fishing it must perch with wings spread to dry them out before it can fly efficiently.
Cormorants eat a lot of fish and their colonies have grown large, so they are sometimes managed near sensitive fisheries. Their overall impact varies by location and is a subject of ongoing study.
The cormorant has an all-dark body, an orange throat, and a distinctly hook-tipped bill, and it often perches upright with wings spread. Loons have a dagger-straight bill, bold breeding patterns, and do not perch on structures the same way.
Juveniles are brown rather than black, with a distinctly pale buff or whitish neck and breast that can be startlingly bright. They keep it through their first year, and the head crests appear only briefly on breeding adults.
A colony when nesting and a flight or a gulp in the air. Great Lakes cormorants nest in dense colonies on islands and travel in long low V-shaped lines between roost and feeding water.
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