Birding, I and the Bird

I and the Bird: Give me your Cormorants

November 20, 2012 by Nate No Comments

Well, that first edition of the new and improved I and the Bird went pretty well, didn’t it?

Are we all ready for the next one?  Good!  Because this time, instead of focusing on a much beloved little feeder denizen, we’re going to go straight to the dark side.  To that group of birds that has been unfairly vilified for both its reportedly insatiable appetite for gamefish, but also its dour appearance and dark countenance such that the great taxonomists of old stuck them with a name that translates to English as “bald raven”.    Brutal.

That’s right, the theme this time is CORMORANTS!


Double-crested Cormorants, photo by Corey Finger

The distribution of these Phalacrocoracids is worldwide, so I expect submissions from Australia to the Atlantic provinces.  I’ll take cormorants from all seven continents and I’ll even take shags assuming the entendre stays single and of an ornithological nature.  And just for kicks, I’ll take Anhingas and Darters too.  They’re not members of the same cormorant family, but they’re close enough in habits and looks to pass this time.

So send me CORMORANT posts to naswick AT gmail DOT com, and if there’s one more thing I can request, please make sure IATB or “I and the Bird” is mentioned in the subject line.  I’d hate to miss anyone’s post.

The deadline is December 4 for publication on December 6.

Written by Nate
Nate Swick is a birder. He grew up in the midwest but currently makes his home in Greensboro, North Carolina, with his wife and two young children, who are not yet aware that they are birders too. He has a soft spot for Piping Plovers and loves pelagics even when his stomach doesn’t, which makes him the quintessential Carolina birder. Nate is the editor of the ABA blog, host of the American Birding Podcast, and author of two books, Birding for the Curious and The ABA Field Guide to Birds of the Carolinas.