Cormorants
Order: Pelecaniformes Family: Phalacrocoracidae
Cormorants are medium-to-large aquatic birds, usually with mainly dark plumage and areas of colored skin on the face. The bill is long, thin, and sharply hooked. Their feet are four-toed and webbed, a distinguishing feature among the Pelecaniformes order. In Connecticut, two species have been recorded.
- Double-crested Cormorant, Phalacrocorax auritus — now a common from spring to fall, this bird was a rare migrant around 1900; much less common in winter, but sightings are increasing; mostly found on some coastal islands, but also on major rivers and some inland lakes; by the late 1990s, there were at least 1,000 nesting pairs in the state; these birds compete with fishermen and with less robust species, so efforts have been made in New York and southern New England to cut down the population; in the years leading up to 2004, the birds were less seen in the summer than previously.
- Great Cormorant, Phalacrocorax carbo — rather common along the coast from fall through spring, but also found on the Connecticut River and other large bodies of water.
Read more about this topic: List Of Birds Of Connecticut