Patient, peaceful waterfowl

This morning at Malibu Lagoon, I was too much in my head. My brain was spinning, not at all present in the moment.

Suddenly a roosting brown pelican and I startled each other. This jolt awakened my senses. Immediately I noticed the sounds, smells and activities around me. There, three feet in front of me, were three mallards and a pelagic cormorant. The mallards slowly shuffled into the water and slipped quietly away. The cormorant remained, keeping an eye on me.

A wait-and-see attitude Slowly I sat down, becoming still. Having watched cormorants many times, I have learned that these birds seem to be incredibly patient. Rather than immediately flying off at the first sign of danger, they have a tendency to wait and see what will occur. Indeed, this cormorant was waiting to see what I was about. Over the next hour we were acutely aware of one another but both decided to stay our course and not fly away.

Along the Santa Monica Mountains coastline you are most likely to see three cormorant species: the Brandt's, Phalacrocorax penicillatus; the pelagic, Phalacrocorax pelagicus; and the double crested, Phalacrocorax auritus. Each species belongs to the family Phalacrocoracidae, related to the order of Pelicaniformes.

Great cormorant

Birds in this family are fisheating waterfowl, characterized by their four webbed toes. Cormorants are black and sleek, with long necks and very sharply hooked bills.

Telling the three apart

Size and coloration factors are used to differentiate among the species. The pelagic cormorant is the smallest, with a very straight and slender neck. When breeding this bird displays white patches on its flanks. In comparison to the Brandt's cormorant, the pelagic has a longer tail and a very thin dark bill. The Brandt's is a larger bird, with heavier, more robust features. It does not display white patches when breeding. Also, the Brandt's has a pale buff-colored throat patch.

The double crested cormorant is a large bird with the widest wing span of the three species. A unique feature of the species is its yellow throat patch and lore, the space between the eye and top edge of the bill.

These amazing birds are highly adapted to life in the water.

The double crested can be found in both fresh and marine environments, while the pelagic and Brandt's are restricted to marine habitats. These birds are adept divers, catching most of their prey underwater while propelling themselves with webbed feet. The double crested takes most of its food from schooling fish above the bottom of the sea while the pelagic and Brandt's forage at depths of 150 to 180 feet.

Once a fish has been captured, a cormorant surfaces and repositions the fish so that its head can be swallowed first. Much of what we know about the cormorant diet has been discovered through careful examination of their pellets.

Once fed and out of the water, cormorants often stand on rocks with their wings outstretched. This serves to dry the outer feathers. Another theory suggests that they stretch out their wings to regulate their body temperature.

Cormorants nest in single species or mixed colonies of a few pairs up to thousands. Rookeries are found on islands, sea cliffs and remote coastline forests. Nests are built on the ground, constructed by the female from materials supplied by the male. The platform nest is often made of sticks, aquatic vegetation and excrement.

Clutch sizes vary; there can be as many as seven eggs, but usually there are three or four. When the eggs hatch, the nestlings' size varies greatly depending on the order hatched; usually the smallest birds are the last to hatch. Anywhere from one to three nestlings make it to fledging. Both male and female contribute to feeding their young.

Enemies of the cormorant

Although common along coastlines, cormorants are not immune to increasing human pressures. During the mid-20th century the double crested cormorant population was severely reduced due to DDT and other toxins. Since the banning of these chemicals in the U.S., the population has increased and seems to have stabilized.

With this stabilization came legislation passed in the late 1990s that allows the killing of cormorants found nesting on islands. This law was mainly supported by commercial fishermen who have found cormorants to be competition, although little of the cormorants' food is of commercial importance. There is an ongoing debate around this issue, and stories have been corroborated on both sides of the argument.

Over the years I have gained deep respect for these birds. Their patience has taught me many lessons. Rather than reacting quickly and heedlessly, they seem to ride out the disturbance, assessing the potential outcome. Ever aware and ready to react, it seems the cormorant is reluctant to give up its hard-won peace, and thankfully remains on our coastline.