Double-crested Cormorant

About the Double-crested Cormorant

The widespread inland cormorant of North America, a big dark fish-chaser that swims low with its hooked bill tilted up and then perches spread-winged to dry - cormorant feathers wet through on purpose, reducing buoyancy for underwater pursuit. The orange throat skin and, briefly in spring, twin head tufts give the species its name. Nearly wiped out by DDT-era eggshell thinning, Double-cresteds have rebounded enormously and now crowd Texas reservoirs each winter, where they are told from the smaller, longer-tailed Neotropic Cormorant by size, throat shape and structure.