Brandt's Cormorant Identification Guide

Key Field Marks

• Size & shape: A large cormorant (about 84 cm) with a thick neck, moderately long tail, and a comparatively straight, slender bill with only a slight hook at the tip.
• Plumage: Overall blackish, showing bronzy-brown scaling on the back and wing coverts in good light, especially in breeding condition.
• Breeding adults: Develop a bright blue throat patch (gular pouch) bordered by pale buffy or straw-colored feathering, plus fine blue-black plumes on the face and neck.
• Bare parts: Dark facial skin year-round, lacking the bright orange-yellow throat pouch of Double-crested Cormorant.

Separating from Similar Species

• Double-crested Cormorant: Has an orange-yellow throat pouch and a more strongly hooked, thicker bill; Double-crested is also more likely inland and on calmer waters, while Brandt's is almost exclusively marine.
• Pelagic Cormorant: Smaller and slimmer with a thinner neck, glossier all-black plumage, a red facial patch in breeding season, and white flank patches — features Brandt's lacks.
• Brandt's Cormorant typically forms large, tight flocks on the water and in flight, often flying low in long lines over the ocean surface, unlike the looser groupings typical of Double-crested Cormorant.

Habitat, Range & Season

• Strictly a coastal and marine species, found along rocky shorelines, offshore islands, kelp beds, and open ocean near shore.
• Range extends along the Pacific coast of North America from British Columbia south to Baja California.
• Resident year-round through much of its range, breeding colonially on coastal cliffs and islands in spring and summer; some post-breeding dispersal occurs along the coast.

Voice & Behavior

• Largely silent away from breeding colonies.
• At colonies, gives low, guttural croaking and grunting notes during display.
• Dives from the surface to forage on small fish and invertebrates, often foraging in coordinated groups.