You could say I'm a bit obsessive about Pelagic Cormorants. Besides being lovely graceful creatures there are also a lot of intriguing conflicting aspects in their story which I've been trying to understand since I started paying attention to them a few years ago.
When I suggested doing an account of this one bird, lineatus encouraged me with the observation that focusing on a single species is a way to get to know it well. But while I can watch these birds at close range for months, there are parts of their life unknown to me. So this is a peek into their lives rather than a comprehensive portrait.
For example, it's only during the breeding season I see these cormorants. Being seabirds - and strictly marine unlike the more common Double Crested Cormorants - they live out on the ocean which is mostly inaccessible to me as a terrestrial creature except during the half of the year when they come to the ferry dock. They also spend much of their life underwater, invisible to me.
This Washington State ferry tied up at the dock is surrounded by steel dolphins that guide and hold boats in place when currents and winds are rough. The state replaced the old wooden dolphins with these in the 1990s. The new structures provide very attractive nesting spots for local Pelagic Cormorants which in nature nest on the ledges of cliffs.
I go through this dock every time I come and go to the mainland. As you can see from the photo above, the nests are too far away to see what's going on, so I have just a few minutes between driving onto the boat and when it departs, to leap out of the car and run upstairs with my camera.
This is what I have seen in this nesting colony over the last two years.
(All photos by me. In Lightbox...click to enlarge)
On the upper deck of the boat I can look down onto the dolphins. I find it fascinating that the cormorants do not nest on the wide flat surface on top, crowding instead into every cranny elsewhere. A few gulls do nest up there, with lots of room to wander.
Pelagic Cormorants (
Phalacrocorax pelagicus) have a narrow range along the Pacific coast. They are slender and delicate compared to their cousin the Double-Crested, with a thin hooked beak and a long tail. The adults are also a luminous iridescent jet black, gleaming with green and purple in sunlight.
Birdweb has a photo of both birds side by side where you can see the dramatic difference between them.
April
The dock is empty of cormorants until April. Hundreds then congregate there from outer rocks where they live a fairly solitary life over the winter fishing in swift currents. They are not far from shore though, in spite of their misnomer "Pelagic".
And in spite of how Cornell describes their nesting:
placed on narrow ledges on high, steep, inaccessible rocky cliffs, facing the sea... The Pelagic Cormorant is among the least gregarious or social of the cormorants, nesting on steep cliffs along rocky and exposed shorelines, either in loose colonies or far from nearest neighbors.
these birds nest cheek by jowl on artificial structures right next to big noisy power boats coming and going all day busy with cars and trucks and people almost within hands reach.
They arrive in full breeding plumage, red-faced, white rump patches and some with white plumes on their necks. Their iridescence is glorious right now. Lots of courtship interaction like displays and mutual preening. This couple nuzzled:
Finding and establishing a good nest site is highly competitive. The pair works together, with the female usually waiting at the site. We get a good look at her sea-green eyes and her enormous feet in this photo. Cormorants get all their propulsion under water with those feet.
The males dive for seaweed which they bring back for building the nest. Sometimes they burst from the water and instantly spread their wings for flight. They keep wings tightly closed for streamlined swimming under water.
This starter nest has quite an assortment of seaweeds. I count at least 6 species:
Arriving at a nest in a niche along the side calls for perfect aerodynamics:
It's a bit easier bringing it to one of the sites open to the sky on top of the supports. This red weed is a favorite:
May
Once a suitable quantity of seaweed is accumulated and arranged, the two birds cement it together and to the surface with their own guano. It gets pretty stinky. This spot is four different adjacent nests. It must be a very favorable site for the cormorants to put up with the inevitable crowding. I've seen conflict over nesting material and space here:
Many of the niches along the sides have been covered with exclusion wire but that does not appear to deter these slim birds who can fit into narrow spaces. Washington State Dept of Transportation has tried several methods to prevent the cormorants from nesting for the sake of "employee and travelers' health", with little success. A few years ago they removed netting that trapped and killed some birds. From what I have observed, they just seem to live with it now. I have asked employees how they feel about it and I get a quick change of subject. I suspect there's a reason for that.
From the side, the steel dolphins look like a cormorant condo!
May is when I saw the first eggs. They lay 3-4, although I have never seen more than 3 chicks in a nest. Incubation is about a month. Both parents incubate, and will feed the young when they hatch.
July
(I have no observations from June. Summer is high tourist season and I try to avoid traveling. Next year I may go over just to see the cormorants :))
By July there are downy nestlings everywhere. This is two different nests, each with two nestlings. The babies are either face-planted or getting fed, as one is in the second pic. Regurgitation, mouth to mouth.
August
The beginning of August is raucous. It's not noisy - these birds are surprising quiet, what Cornell describes accurately as "moans and throat clatter", not the prehistoric honking and screeching of the Double-Crested Cormorant - but it's busy. Lots of begging, posturing, preening, face-offs over territory, flying down to the water and up with food. A lot of birds just floating on the surface nearby, maybe for a little peace? Some birds are panting in the summer heat.
In the wild I understand adults perch on the edge of a nest to prevent babies from falling off the cliff. The exclusion wires are like the side of a crib. Three chicks and a parent can fit in an otherwise too-small space:
As soon as their feathers start growing in the babies are grooming. I don't know why this one chick looks so dirty. A brown fully-feathered chick has moved out of the nest.
Most of the nestlings are as big as their parents now and need a lot of food. They beg:
Sometimes they are very demanding. This series of a parent feeding a youngster seems incredible to me. Look how far the baby reaches! See the shape of its beak from inside?!
And if a parent is feeding more than one it can get scary. These youngsters are hungry and very aggressive. No wonder adults cormorants become exhausted at this stage trying to keep up with 2 or 3 of these monsters.
Notice how the bright breeding plumage is gone in the adults by this time.
In 7-8 weeks the kids fledge. It's a nerve-wracking time. They want to fly...but it's a long way down. Here a (possibly cranky) parent is encouraging a fledgling to go. The adult wouldn't let it walk back onto the flat area. The glossy brown plumage of this young cormorant indicates it is ready to leave the nest. It dithers, and eventually makes the leap.
By late August there were quite a few young cormorants swimming below the dolphins with their shiny water-proof plumage and matching brown eyes. They look anxiously upward (was this a good idea? how do I get back up there?).
This photo shows a pair of cormorants on the left with what looks like eggs. This seems very late (date stamp says 8/18/14).
September
A few days ago I came through the ferry dock again. The nests were empty. A few gulls there screeched, making far more noise than the hundreds of cormorants had. A handful of cormorants perched on the edge of the dolphins.
An adult and a kid preen together. The atmosphere is calm. No begging, posturing or aggressive behavior.
A few juveniles practice flying and landing, not very gracefully. They preen expertly though. One stops to watch for - mom? a sibling?
Occasionally the adults leave off preening to watch the juveniles on another dolphin. Most of the cormorants have dispersed. I guess these are late bloomers.
As my ferry was departing the dock I saw a worrisome sight:
A young cormorant swimming round and round at the base of the dolphins. A close look shows it is not fully feathered:
It tried to fly up from the surface twice while I was watching and could not manage it. Down feathers get soaked quickly and in this 50º water, this baby will get hypothermia soon if it doesn't get out of the water. I know young birds have been found washed up on beaches, who left the nest too early. I wonder whether this was from the very late set of eggs laid in August. Sad to see this helpless bird in this extremely challenging environment.
December 2013
Nesting is long over. The dock smells clean. It is quiet and empty. I miss the cormorants.
One sunrise shows a silhouette of a few perched on a dolphin. In a few months it will get very busy again.