Little Cormorant

Microcarbo niger (Vieillot, 1817)

Phalacrocoracidae — Cormorants, Shags

Little Cormorant, Microcarbo niger, is a cormorant found across the Oriental Region, from the Indus Valley in western Pakistan through sub-Himalayan India and Nepal to Sri Lanka, and east to southern China, Vietnam and Java. It is a widespread inland and coastal bird. It can be told from the Indian Cormorant by its lack of a peaked head and its shorter bill. In the breeding season the whole bird is black. Outside that period the plumage is brownish and the throat shows a small whitish patch. It nests in trees, often in colonies with other waterbirds.

Order: Suliformes
Family: Phalacrocoracidae — Cormorants, Shags
Breeding range: Oriental Region: widespread inland and coastal, Indus Valley (c Pakistan) through sub-Himalayan India and Nepal to Sri Lanka, e to s China, Vietnam and Java