The Story
I photographed this Double-crested Cormorant (Nannopterum auritum) at La Jolla Shores in San Diego, California, United States. The crests appear in the breeding season and give the bird its common name. It is found along rivers, lakes and coasts from Alaska’s Aleutian Islands across North America, and it hunts fish by swimming and diving underwater. Large colonies also live inland, including around the Salton Sea. It swims low in the water, often with only its neck and head showing, and dives from the surface. IUCN lists it as Least Concern.
I made this frame with a Canon R5 and the RF 800mm f/11, at 1/1000 sec, f/11, ISO 1600, −1.5 EV. The cliffs and coves of La Jolla, a community of San Diego, include waters protected as a marine reserve that draw snorkelers, swimmers and divers.
©2023 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Double-crested Cormorant (Nannopterum auritum) 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