These are found throughout Australia, including Tasmania, and across from Borneo through Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and down to New Zealand, they are one of only two totally black cormorants in Australia with the other being the much larger Great Cormorant. They are easy to find here in our many wetlands, Ross Creek, Statue Bay and Rosslyn Bay, make time during the holidays to spend a few hours at Rosslyn Bay and take the kids fishing down near the public jetty, you’ll have a great time and as a test of your collective observational skills see if you can spot 12 different types of birds.
Cormorants are strongly aquatic and seldom seen on dry land but are often seen resting on rocks, jetties and other perches in water, they feed on fish, crustaceans and aquatic insects which they catch underwater, diving and swimming using their large, fully webbed feet for propulsion. As their feathers are not waterproof cormorants are regularly seen perched with their wings outstretched to dry after fishing.
They nest colonially, often on the fringes of heron or ibis colonies, building large stick nests in the fork of a tree or on the ground, both sexes share nest-building, incubation and feeding of the young.