Little Cormorant Microcarbo niger Scientific name definitions

51–56 cm, 360–525 g; wingspan 90 cm. Breeding adult has black or brownish-black plumage, with small, often flattened, erectile crest on forecrown; in early breeding season has some scattered white filoplumes, mostly on head; feathering on lores and around eye has noticeable white dots; most of body plumage has bluish-green to blackish-purple sheen, mantle  almost uniform, scapulars and wing-coverts largely blackish grey to silvery grey with black fringes affording scaly appearance (marginal and some lesser coverts appear mainly blackish); remiges and tail blackish; as breeding season progresses, head and upper neck may become dark chestnut; non-breeding adult duller, slightly brownish especially on head and neck, contrastingly white on anterior face from below gape to throat, sheen on scapulars and wing-coverts perhaps more greenish than silvery; iris blackish; at start of breeding season, bill is black or blackish grey, usually with horn-coloured tip, gape and base of mandible often bluish , later paler horn with greyish-blue base, gular pouch pale flesh; legs and feet blackish grey, webs tinged dusky pinkish or dusky brownish. Sexes alike. Juvenile mostly blackish brown with white throat, bill fleshy pink marked dusky grey; subsequent plumage dark brown on head and most of neck, with white throat, rest of plumage blackish brown with narrow pale brownish fringes, scapulars and most wing-coverts similar to equivalent adult feathers, but narrowly fringed pale brownish when fresh. Recalls other small, long-tailed cormorants, being very like M. pygmaeus in size, structure and plumage, but perhaps slimmer-bodied and slightly larger-headed, pattern on scapulars and wing-coverts usually more noticeable, crest often invisible, lores often paler and horn tip to bill of breeders can also be useful; non-breeding adult often more evenly blackish except throat, juveniles usually dark on abdomen, lacking contrast with upper breast, and white throat usually more sharply demarcated from brown neck; iris and facial skin colours provide useful separation from similar species.

Pakistan and India S to Sri Lanka and E to Myanmar, S China and Indochina S to Java; dispersal associated with monsoons.

Chiefly occupies freshwater bodies in lowlands, including ponds, rivers , lakes, swamps, canals and rice fields. Also occurs on coasts, in estuaries and mangroves . In Mekong Delta, Vietnam, found in most freshwater and coastal wetlands, and is one of few large waterbirds that occurs in highly disturbed areas adjacent to rice fields (1 Buckton, S.T. and Safford, R.J. (2004). The avifauna of the Vietnamese Mekong Delta. Bird Conservation International. 14(4): 279–322. Close ). During monsoons often occurs in temporarily flooded areas. Typically breeds in trees or bushes in flooded areas.

Basically sedentary; some movements related to local water conditions, including dispersal associated with monsoons.

Mainly small freshwater fish; also frogs and tadpoles. Feeds  mainly by pursuit-diving . Sometimes fishes co-operatively .

Usually silent, except in vicinity of nest or roost (2 Grimmett, R., C. Inskipp, and T. Inskipp (1998). Birds of the Indian Subcontinent. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ). At nest, deep grunts and groans and low pitched “ah-ah-ah” and “kok-kok-kok” (3 Nelson, J. B. (2005). Pelicans, Cormorants and their relatives. Pelecanidae, Sulidae, Phalacrocoracidae, Anhingidae, Fregatidae, Phaethontidae. Oxford University Press, New York. Close ). A roaring murmur is heard from birds at roost in large colonies (4 Rasmussen, P. C., and J. C. Anderton (2005). Birds of South Asia: the Ripley Guide. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona, Spain. Close ).

Season variable with region, but mainly Jun–Aug. Colonial, sometimes nesting at high densities; often in company of other waterbirds, including herons, egrets, darters and other cormorants. Nests in trees over water, bushes, reedbeds, stands of bamboo; nest of sticks and leaves. Usually lays four eggs (2–6); chicks naked, acquire dingy black down. Breeding activities at a tree-nesting colony in Bangladesh commenced in May and continued until Oct. Both pair members took part in nestbuilding. Clutch size was 2–6 (3·75 ± 0·8, n = 20). Incubation lasted 14–21 days. Young fledged at 17–29 days old. Breeding success was 78·76% in relation to eggs hatched and 68·26% in relation to eggs laid (5 Naher, H., Sarker, N.J., Rahman, M.K. and Khan, S.I. (2009). Breeding biology of the Little Cormorant Phalacrocorax niger (Pelecaniformes: Phalacrocoracidae) in Bangladesh. J. Threatened Taxa. 1(4): 221–225. Close ).

Not globally threatened (Least Concern). Frequent to abundant across much of range. Censuses in Jan 1991 produced 35,876 in India, 16,731 in Sri Lanka, and 5054 in Pakistan (9193 in Jan 1990). Coverage generally much poorer further E and numbers less impressive, with 457 in Bangladesh, 770 in Myanmar and 848 in Thailand in Jan 1991; also 570 in Indonesia in Jan 1990. First recorded breeding on Sumatra in 2008 and 2012 (6 Iqbal, M., Adhaputra, C., Kamsi, M. and Hikmatullah, D. (2013). First confirmed breeding records of Little Cormorant Phalacrocorax niger in Sumatra. Kukila. 17(1): 22–25. Close ). Generally common in Thailand , but in Indonesia reported as common only on Java. In Vietnam, several large breeding colonies throughout Mekong Delta, where it is the commonest cormorant species. Largest counts include c. 1000 in colony in Tram Chim National Park in Mar 1998; 1348 at U Minh Thuong in May 1999, 1696 there in May 2000 and 1541 in Jun 2001; and 1500 at Ca Mau bird sanctuary in Aug 1999 (1 Buckton, S.T. and Safford, R.J. (2004). The avifauna of the Vietnamese Mekong Delta. Bird Conservation International. 14(4): 279–322. Close ). Species has been declining in Laos since 19th century, where it was previously common, with comparatively few recent records there (7 Thewlis, R. M., R. J. Timmins, T. D. Evans, and J. W. Duckworth (1998). The conservation status of birds in Laos: a review of key species. Bird Conservation International 8(Supplement):1–159. Close ). It may also have declined in Cambodia, although there are recent regular counts of > 1000 birds in the Bassac marshes, near Phnom Penh (8 Evans, T. D., H. C. Towll, R. J. Timmins, R. M. Thewlis, A. J. Stones, W. G. Robichaud, and J. Barzen (2000). Ornithological records from the lowlands of southern Laos during December 1995–September 1996, including areas on the Thai and Cambodian borders. Forktail 16:29–52. Close , 1 Buckton, S.T. and Safford, R.J. (2004). The avifauna of the Vietnamese Mekong Delta. Bird Conservation International. 14(4): 279–322. Close ). Presumably suffering some negative effects of degradation of wetland habitats, which is occurring on large scale throughout its range and some threat from hunting in SE Asia (7 Thewlis, R. M., R. J. Timmins, T. D. Evans, and J. W. Duckworth (1998). The conservation status of birds in Laos: a review of key species. Bird Conservation International 8(Supplement):1–159. Close , 8 Evans, T. D., H. C. Towll, R. J. Timmins, R. M. Thewlis, A. J. Stones, W. G. Robichaud, and J. Barzen (2000). Ornithological records from the lowlands of southern Laos during December 1995–September 1996, including areas on the Thai and Cambodian borders. Forktail 16:29–52. Close ).