The Great Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo) is a large, entirely black fish-eating bird, about 80–100 cm long with a wingspan of roughly 130–160 cm and a weight of 1.8–3.5 kg. The plumage is black with a metallic bronze-green sheen, and the heavy, hook-tipped bill has a bare, yellowish patch of skin at its base. In breeding condition it develops a white thigh patch and pale feathering on the head and neck. It often perches upright on a rock, post or buoy with its wings spread out to dry, and flies with its neck held outstretched.
Mostly silent away from the colony, the Great Cormorant produces deep, guttural, croaking and growling calls at the nest site, often rendered as a harsh "krrra", which together create a dull murmur rising from the colony. It is found along the entire Swedish coast and at larger lakes and rivers, and the Swedish population, estimated at 40,000–60,000 pairs, has grown strongly since the 1990s, recovering from near-disappearance caused by persecution and pollutants such as DDT. It breeds in large, often densely packed colonies on islands, in trees or on cliffs, building nests of twigs and seaweed with clutches typically of 3–4 eggs; the caustic droppings from a large colony can damage or kill nesting trees over time, sometimes forcing the colony to relocate. It feeds exclusively on fish, chiefly flounder, perch and roach, and a single adult eats around half a kilo of fish a day; because its plumage is not fully waterproof it is less buoyant, which aids diving but requires the wings to be dried afterward — the source of its familiar spread-wing stance.
Read about this species in Swedish →