Indian Cormorant

The Indian cormorant or Indian shag is a member of the cormorant family. It is a gregarious species that can be easily distinguished from the similar-sized little cormorant by its blue eye, small head with a sloping forehead and a long narrow bill ending in a hooked tip.

Scientific Name : Phalacrocorax Fuscicollis

Family : Phalacrocoracidae

Order : Suliformes

Class : Aves

Type : Cormorants

Conservation Status : Least concern (LC)

Size : 63 cm

Compare Size : Kite +-

Wingspan : NA

Weight : 600 - 790 g

Migratory : Resident Migrant

Sex Alike : Yes

Nesting Season : July - February

Other Names :

English : Indian Shag

Hindi : घोगुर

Marathi : भारतीय पाणकावळा, मध्यम पाणकावळा

Habitat:
Freshwater and marine habitats, Lakes, Jheels, Mangrove creeks, Rivers

Breeding:
Eggs - 3 - 6, Pale bluish-green. Both sexes incubate

Feeding:
Fish


Identification Features

Male & Female
Head small and slightly peaked; In breeding plumage white ear tuft is seen behind the eye
Wing bronze brown
Eyes blue
Throat In Breeding plumange whitish;
Gular skin In breeding plumage gular puch is black; In Non-Breeding plumage gular pouch is yellow
Note :
In breeding plumage its mostly black; In Non-breeding plumage it is more brown

Gallery

SIGHTINGS

Date Location
2019-01-31 31 Jan 2019 Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary, Rajasthan

Similar Birds

(Cormorants)

Great Cormorant

(Phalacrocorax)

Great Black Cormorant, Black Cormorant, Large Cormorant, Black Shag

मोठा पाणकावळा

घोगुर, बड़ा पनकौवा

Little Cormorant

(Microcarbo Niger)

Javanese Cormorant

छोटा पाणकावळा

छोटा पनकौवा, पान-कोवा