Hi all,
I'm linking to a couple of photos I got of a cormorant at San Remo (south cast of Victoria). As far as I could tell at the time, it was all black, so I assumed it was a Little Black Cormorant, but looking at the photos I can clearly see a yellow patch at the base of the beak, with a white patch behind that.
Does that mean it must be a Great Cormorant? It seemed too small for that, though I was looking at it from a distance. The bird book makes it look like it should also have a white patch on its side - or is that only when breeding?
The photos (a bit fuzzy from scale, I'm afraid):
http://www.flickr.com/photos/33453925@N00/3049821110/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/33453925@N00/3049822642/
ID confirmed - Great Cormorant.
Lightening the image a lot made the pale cheek and throat patch colour very obvious. Therefore it cannot be Little Black Cormorant.
http://www.birdsinbackyards.net/finder/display.cfm?id=81
BiBY Bird Finder says:
The Great Cormorant is almost entirely black in plumage, apart from a white and yellow chin and a small white patch on each thigh (absent in winter). The bill is grey and the legs and feet are black. Young birds resemble the adults but are more dusky-brown.
Similar species
The Great Cormorant can be distinguished from the noticeably smaller (58 cm - 63 cm) Little Black Cormorant, P. sulcirostris, which is completely black and has a thinner bill.
Cheers
Denis
Denis Wilson
www.peonyden.blogspot.com