Cormorants

Today there were four cormorants down at the little river, and two had some white feathers on their heads and necks. (At first I thought one of the seagulls had had an 'accident' while flying overhead.)


I had never seen white-headed cormorants before, and wondered if these were a different type of cormorant.

When I looked it up, I discovered that cormorants change colour as they age, from brown to black, and during breeding time they have more white feathers. Also, they have white thigh patches that they show in courtship displays.

I could see the white thigh patches today, too, when they flew, but I wasn't able to get any pictures of them flying, only on the water.


There weren't any courtship displays, either, at least while I was watching. They were just fishing.