The great cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo) has a scattered range throughout the world. Largest of the cormorants, the bird is hunted almost to extinction in the 19th century. The great cormorant may be the inspiration for the ferocious Stymphalian birds of Greek myth.
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Today the Great Cormorant is a bird of least concern, living along coasts of Scandinavia, East North America, Greenland, NW Africa, Russia, India, moving inland in central Asia and Australia. P. carbo frequents saline shores, islands and freshwater inland marshes or rivers.
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The ancestor of cormorants is thought to be a freshwater bird, over time adapting to the sea. Cormorants have existed since the Late Cretaceous (100 million - 66 million ya) based on fossil finds. Bones from 70 million ya are discovered in Mongolia.
Most cormorant species have dark feathers. Albinism is rare. The beak is long, strong and heavy with a pronounced hook like that of a distant relative, the pelican. Four-toed feet are fully webbed. Cormorants dive from the water surface to catch fish.
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Agile aquanauts, cormorants swim beneath the water using foot propulsion with assistance of wings. Some species dive an amazing 45 m (150 ft) deep. Agility in the water depends on short wing length. Thus it takes a lot of energy to fly, and the birds are reluctant to do so.
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Cormorants in the Galapagos have given up the ability to fly altogether. In northern Russia the spectacled cormorant, standing at about a meter (3.3 ft) tall, is suddenly at a fatal disadvantage.
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Flying difficulties or reluctance to fly makes it an easy target for humans who swarm from the south in the 19th century. Although it's hunted by locals as food, apparently delicious cooked in clay, its numbers can't survive the human influx. It goes extinct c. 1850 CE.
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Cormorants are not usually hunted for food, as most people find the flesh of the birds distasteful. Apparently it's all in the way it's cooked. Their bad reputation has saved many cormorants, except in Norway, where they're shot.
The birds are voracious in summer and more picky in winter, choosing longer fish easier to swallow. Because of this ravenous-seeming behavior, the great cormorant is hunted almost to extinction by fishermen who see it as competition.
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Due to conservation efforts, and the adaptability of the birds, the Great Cormorant does not go the way of its spectacled cousin, and numbers gradually increase. At last count there are about 1.2 million birds in Europe alone.
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Cormorants are often seen standing in a sunny place with wings spread. Biologists confirm this stance is taken to dry their feathers. The birds have some natural water-repellent oils but unlike ducks and other waterfowl the surface feathers get drenched.
P. carbo is typically black with light accents, such as a yellow throat spot. In breeding season adults have white patches on thighs and throat. Vital statistics show wide variation in size over different habitats, with weight ranges from 1.5 kg (3.3 lb) to 5.3 kg (11.7 lb).
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Young great cormorants may be lighter in color than adults, showing pale speckled or downy plumage. Males are bigger and heavier than females. The largest birds of P. carbo are found in Prince Edward Island, Canada, with wingspans up to 160 cm (63 in).
Cormorants are not noisy birds. They grunt when taking off or landing, during mating or in shows of breeding or territorial aggression. They can also sound like goats bleating.
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The Great Cormorant nests in colonies near wetlands, seas or rivers. Pairs are life-mates, who use the same site to breed every year. P. carbo builds a nest of sticks on a cliffs or a rocky island. Females lay 3-5 pale blue or green eggs and incubate them about a month.
Fishing with cormorants is practiced in China, Japan and elsewhere. The fisher ties line around the bird's throat, snug enough to prevent swallowing larger fish. The cormorants bring the fish they can't swallow back to the boat, and release them to the fisher.
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In Norway cormorants are traditional game birds. Each year about 10,000 cormorants are shot to be eaten. In Norse folklore, people who die out at sea spend eternity on the island Utrøst. The inhabitants of Utrøst can only visit their homes in the shape of cormorants.
Stymphalian Birds
In Greek myth, the Stymphalian birds appear in tales of Heracles, and the Argonautica, the adventures of Jason and the Argonauts. In nature, Great Cormorants, who inhabit the region of Giresun Island, have many similar traits.