The Story
On June 25, 2017, I photographed this Neotropic Cormorant (Nannopterum brasilianum) at the Charca de Guarinocito near La Dorada, Caldas, Colombia. It breeds in colonies, building stick nests in bushes or trees a few meters above ground or water. It dives briefly underwater after fish, pushing itself along with its feet, and sometimes hunts in groups that beat the water to drive fish into the shallows. It was formerly placed in the genus Phalacrocorax. The Charca de Guarinocito is an old oxbow of the Magdalena River that stays connected to the river all year.
I used a Canon EOS 70D and the EF400mm f/5.6L USM for this one, at 1/1000 sec, f/6.3, ISO 640. IUCN lists the Neotropic Cormorant as Least Concern with an increasing population, and people living around the lagoon see the birds as an attraction for visitors and do not allow them to be hunted.
©2018 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Neotropic Cormorant (Nannopterum brasilianum) belongs to the family Phalacrocoracidae (Cormorants and Shags) in the eBird/Clements taxonomy.
Source: eBird.org (opens in a new tab)
Conservation
Least Concern on the IUCN Red List (assessment published 2018), with the population trend listed as increasing. Source: IUCN Red List
