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  Black-faced Cormorant ( Phalacrocorax fuscescens )



Black-faced Cormorant | Phalacrocorax fuscescens photo
Black-faced Cormorant

Photograph by Pierre Pouliquin. Some rights reserved.

Black-faced Cormorant | Phalacrocorax fuscescens photo
Black-faced Cormorant

Photograph by Pierre Pouliquin. Some rights reserved.




BIRD FACTS

distribution map showing range of Phalacrocorax fuscescens in Australia

Description
The Black-faced Cormorant is a large cormorant with black upper parts, a bare black face, and white under parts. The legs and feet are black and there is a black mark on the thigh. The bill is dark grey, and the eyes are blue-green. After diving they sit with wings outstretched to dry their feathers.

Other Names
Black-faced Shag

Size
60cm - 70cm

Environment
coastal waters in bays, inlets, rocky headlands and islands.

Food
small fish caught by diving from the surface

Breeding
Black-faced Cormorants breed in large colonies on off-shore islands. The nest made of seaweed and grasses on bare rock. Three to five eggs are laid.

Range
southern coasts of mainland Australia and Tasmania



Classification
Class:Aves
Order:Pelecaniformes
Family:Phalacrocoracidae
Genus:Phalacrocorax
Species:fuscescens
Common Name:Black-faced Cormorant