The Story
I photographed this juvenile Double-crested Cormorant (Nannopterum auritum) in flight at Sebastian Inlet State Park, Florida, United States, in November 2020. It lives near rivers, lakes and coasts across North America, from the Aleutian Islands in Alaska down to Florida and Mexico. It mainly eats fish, which it catches by swimming and diving. It is 70 to 90 centimeters long with a wingspan of 114 to 123 centimeters, and its name refers to the crests adults grow in the breeding season. IUCN lists it as Least Concern.
I used a Pentax K-1 with the HD Pentax-D FA 150-450mm f/4.5-5.6 for this one, at 1/2500 sec, f/5.6, ISO 400, −0.7 EV. The park’s McLarty Treasure Museum shows artifacts from a Spanish fleet wrecked off this coast in 1715.
©2024 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