PeterD-2009

  • Home
  • Search
  • Amphibian
    • Smooth Newt (Lissotriton vulgaris)
  • Animals
    • Mullet (Mugilidae)
  • Ant Lions & Lacewings
    • Brown Lacewings (Hemerobiidae)
    • Green Lacewing (Chrysopa sp)
  • Ants
    • Black Garden Ant(Lasius niger)
    • Ant (Camponotus vagus)
  • Bees
    • Solitary Bees
    • Bumble Bees (Bombas)
    • Halictidae
    • Bees awaiting sort
    • Cuckoo Bee (Nomada sp)
    • Ivy Mining Bee (Colletes hederae)
  • Beetles
    • Ladybirds (Coccinellidae)
    • Long Horn Beetles (Chrysomelidae)
    • Wood Boring Beetles and Others
    • Soldier and Sailor Beetles (Centhatidae
    • Click Beetles (Elateridae)
    • Burying-Beetles (Silphidae)
    • Scarab and Chafer Beetles (Scarabaeidae)
    • Stag Beetle (Lucanidae)
    • Weevils (Curculionidae)
    • Leaf Beetle (Phyllotreta nigripes)
    • Beetles (Coleoptera)
    • Ladybirds (Coccinellidae)
    • Leaf Beetles (Chrysomelidae)
    • Bloody-nosed Beetle (Timarcha tenebricosa)
    • Scarab & Chafer Beetles (Scarabaeidae)
    • Oxythyrea funesta
  • Birds
    • Swallows and Martins (Hirundinidae)
    • Terns (Sterninae)
    • Larks (Alaudidae)
    • Woodpecker (Picidae)
    • Kingfishers (Alcedinidae)
    • Pigeons and Doves
    • Gulls (Laridae)
    • Birds of Prey
    • Cormorants (Phalacrocoracidae)
    • Grebes (Podicpedidae)
    • Herons, Storks and Ibises (Ciconiiformes)
    • Wildfowl
    • Waders
    • Thrushes (Turdidae)
    • Starlings (Sturnidae)
    • Crows (Corvidae)
    • Finches (Fringillidae)
    • Warblers (Sylviidae)
    • Partridges and Pheasants
    • Tits and other similar (Paridae etc)
    • Rails and Crakes
    • Accentors (Prunellidae)
    • Pipits and Wagtails (Motacillidae)
    • Sparrows (Passeridae)
    • Buntings (Emberizidae)
    • Wren and Dipper
    • Sequence shots
    • Flycatchers ( Muscipadidae)
    • Bombycillidae-Waxwing
    • Pelecaniformes
    • Treecreepers (Certhiidae)
    • Spheniscidae
    • Owls (Strigiformes)
    • Halcyonidae
    • Phoenicopteriformes
    • Buntings (Emberizidae)
    • Perching Birds (Passeriformes)
    • Finches (Fringillidae)
    • Old World Flycatcher (Muscicapidae)
    • Crows (Corvidae)
    • Wagtails Longclaws and Pipits (Motacillidae)
    • Lark (Alaudidae)
    • Starling (Sturnidae)
    • Martins and Swallows (Hirundinidae)
    • Thrush (Turdidae)
    • Tit (Paridae)
    • Long-tailed Tit (Aegithalidae)
    • True Warbler (Sylviidae)
    • Sparrow (Passeridae)
    • Birds of Prey (Accipitriformes)
    • Gannets, Cormorants and Pelicans (Pelecaniformes)
    • Waders, Gulls and Auks (Charadriiformes)
    • Sandpipers (Scolopacidae)
    • Gull (Laridae)
    • Gull (Larus)
    • Terns (Sternidae)
    • Eurasian Nuthatch (Sitta europaea)
    • Penguins (Sphenisciformes)
  • Bush Crickets
    • Long-winged Conehead bush-cricket (Conocephalus discolor)
    • Short-winged Conehead bush-cricket nymph (Conocephalus dorsalis)
    • Roesel's Bush-cricket (Metrioptera roeselii)
    • Great Green Bush-cricket (Tettigonia viridissima)
    • Dark Bush cricket (Pholidoptera griseoaptera)
    • Speckled bush cricket (Leptophyes punctatissima)
  • Butterflies
    • Nymphalidae
    • Pieridae
    • Satyridae
    • Hesperiidae
    • Lycaenidae
    • Butterfly Families
    • Pieridae - White or Yellow white butterflies
    • Lycaenidae Butterflies
    • Nymphalidae Butterflies
    • Satyridae Butterflies
    • Hesperiidae Butterflies
  • Centipedes Millipedes
    • Millipedes (Diplopoda)
    • Woodlice (Isopoda)
  • Church Fenton
  • Damselflies & Dragonflies
    • Damselflies(Zygoptera)
    • Dragonflies(Anisoptera)
    • Dragonfly (Epiprocta)
    • Damsel and Dragon flies (Odonata)
  • Grasshoppers
    • Grasshoppers to be sorted
    • Meadow grasshopper (Chorthippus parallelus)
    • Field Grasshopper (Chorthippus brunneus)
  • Harvestmen
    • Harvester (Paroligolophus agrestis)
    • Leiobunum blackwalli
    • Leiobunum rotundum
    • Harvestman (Phalangium opilio)
  • Hemiptera
    • Mirid or Capsid Bugs (Miridae)
    • Shield Bugs (Pentatomidae)
    • Squash Bugs (Coreidae)
    • Damsel Bug (Nabidae)
    • Shield Bugs (Pentatomidae)
    • Bugs (Hemiptera)
    • Scentless plant bugs (Rhopalidae)
    • Water Measurer (Hydrometra stagnorum)
    • Water Boatman (Notonecta glauca)
  • Homoptera
    • Froghoppers (Cercopidae)
    • Leafhoppers (Cicadellidae)
    • Aphids
    • Lacehopper (Cixiidae)
    • Planthopper family Issidae
    • Froghoppers (Cercopidae)
  • Hymenoptera
    • Saw Flies (Symphyta)
    • Wasps for ID
    • Hornet (Vespa crabro)
    • Ichneumon Wasp (Ichneumon sarcitorius)
    • Wasp (Vespula vulgaris)
    • Itchneumon (Achaius oratorius)
    • Bees (Apidae)
    • Andrena Sp
    • Sawfly (Athalia rosae)
    • Ichnuemon Wasp (Amblyteles armatorius)
    • Ichneumon Wasp (Ophion luteus)
    • Mining Bee (Andrena flavipes)
    • Mason Bee (Osmia sp.)
  • Insects
    • True Flies (Diptera)
  • Landscapes
    • Countryside
    • Nature Reserves
    • Town Scenes
  • Lepidoptera
    • Adelidae
    • Noctuidae
    • Plume Moth (Pterophoridae)
    • Foxglove Pug (Eupithecia pulchellata)
    • Willow Beauty (Peribatodes rhomboidaria)
    • Shuttle-shaped Dart (Agrotis puta)
  • Mammals
    • Caviidae
    • Cats (Felidae)
    • Macropodidae
    • Deer
    • Rabbit
    • Seal
    • Squirrels
    • Fox
    • Warthog (Phacochoerus africanus)
    • Eurasian Otter (Lutra lutra)
    • Meerkat (Suricata suricatta)
  • Mayflies
    • Ephemera vulgata
  • Moths
    • To be sorted
    • Micro-Moths
    • Zygaenidae
    • Geometers(Geometridae)
    • Noctuid-Moths(Noctuidae)
    • Arctiidae
    • Crambidae
    • Adelidae
    • tortrix moths (tortricidae)
  • Neuroptera
    • Alder Fly (Sialis lutaria sialidae)
  • Plants and Flowers
    • Flowers
    • UK Orchids
    • Galls
    • Trees
    • Bladder Campion (Silene vulgaris)
  • Reptiles
    • Lizards
    • Crocodile
  • Scorpion Flies
    • Scorpion Fly (Panorpa sp.)
  • Spiders
    • Spiders for ID
    • Hunting Spiders
    • Web Spiders
    • Tetragnathidae
    • Tangle Web Spider (Theridiidae)
    • Orb Web Spider( Araneidae)
    • Lace web spider (Amaurobius fenestralis)
  • Trains
    • Kent & East Sussex Railway
    • Milford Junction, West Yorkshire
    • Hayling Billy Line
    • Mid Hants Railway
    • Welwyn Garden City
    • Cosham
    • Church Fenton, North Yorkshire
    • Kent & East Sussex Railway
    • IoW Steam Railway

  1. Birds
  2. Pelecaniformes

Cormorants (Phalacrocoracidae)

Gannets, Cormorants and Pelicans (Pelecaniformes) > Cormorants (Phalacrocoracidae)
Cormorants (Phalacrocoracidae)

There is no consistent distinction between cormorants and shags. The names "cormorant" and "shag" were originally the common names of the two species of the family found in Great Britain, Phalacrocorax carbo (now referred to by ornithologists as the Great Cormorant) and P. aristotelis (the European Shag). "Shag" refers to the bird's crest, which the British forms of the Great Cormorant lack.


Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo)

This is a very common and widespread bird species. It feeds on the sea, in estuaries, and on freshwater lakes and rivers. Northern birds migrate south and winter along any coast that is well-supplied with fish.

The type subspecies, P. c. carbo, is found mainly in Atlantic waters and nearby inland areas: on western European coasts and south to North Africa, the Faroe Islands, Iceland and Greenland; and on the eastern seaboard of North America, though in America it breeds only in the north of its range, in the Canadian maritime provinces. The subspecies found in Australasian waters, P. carbo novaehollandiae, has a crest. In New Zealand it is known as the Black Shag or by its Maori name; Kawau.

Click on the image to access the Great Cormorant gallery.

More information can be found on Wikipedia.


Shag (Phalacrocorax aristotelis)

The European Shag or Common Shag (Phalacrocorax aristotelis) is a species of cormorant. It breeds around the rocky coasts of western and southern Europe, southwest Asia and north Africa, mainly wintering in its breeding range except for northernmost birds. In Britain this seabird is usually referred to as simply the Shag

It feeds in the sea, and, unlike the Great Cormorant, is rare inland. It will winter along any coast that is well-supplied with fish.

The European Shag is one of the deepest divers among the cormorant family. Using depth gauges, European Shags have been shown to dive to at least 45 metres. European Shags are preponderantly benthic feeders, i.e. they find their prey on the sea bottom. They will eat a wide range of fish but their commonest prey is the sand eel. Shags will travel many kilometres from their roosting sites in order to feed.

Click on the image to access the European Shag gallery.

More information can be found on Wikipedia.


Read More
  • 13 Dec 2010 - Cormorant at Broadmarsh. Copyright Peter Drury 2010. From RAW file

    13 Dec 2010 - Cormorant at Broadmarsh. Copyright Peter Drury 2010. From RAW file

    BroadmarshCormorant Phalacrocorax carbobirdsnature

  • Photo Sharing
  • About SmugMug
  • Browse Photos
  • Prints & Gifts
  • Terms
  • Privacy
  • Contact
  • Owner Log In
© 2023 SmugMug, Inc.