The Story
I photographed this Neotropic Cormorant (Nannopterum brasilianum) from the Ferry Marcopolo on the Orteguaza River at Puerto Arango, near Florencia, Caquetá, Colombia, in February 2021. The Dutch naturalist Willem Piso recorded it in 1658 after traveling in Brazil, and Gmelin gave it a scientific name in 1789. It eats mainly small fish, along with tadpoles, frogs, aquatic insects and shrimp, and inland birds often take fish under 10 centimeters long. Birds of the southern populations tend to be bigger than northern ones. IUCN lists it as Least Concern.
I used a Canon R5 with the RF 800mm f/11 for this one, at 1/1500 sec, f/11, ISO 3200. From the Marco Polo ferry, on a two-hour trip along the Orteguaza River, passengers see the Hacha River flow into the Orteguaza and watch for birds.
©2021 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