Tag Archives: White-breasted Cormorant

White-breasted Cormorant Update

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White-breasted Cormorant (Phalacrocorax lucidus) SD Zoo by Lee

White-breasted Cormorant (Phalacrocorax lucidus) SD Zoo by Lee

In yesterday’s article, White-breasted Cormorants at San Diego Zoo I mentioned that we had never seen these before. When it posted, at the bottom of the article, it loaded the Latest Challenge of Zoo Photography which was taken at Lowry Park Zoo. I have added an Update to yesterday’s article.

But now that I look at the two of them together, it does make me wonder if they are the same species.???

I got through the netting.

I got through the netting.

They both have that beautiful green eye, but their little patch of color below the eye is different. Huh?

Interesting. They may come from different parts of Africa or it could be their ages or sex. If you know, drop a comment.

As James tells us, we are to admit when we mess up. It was unintentional.

Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. (James 5:16 KJV)

At least it gave me something to write about today! :)
(By the way, if you wonder why I don’t have the smiley faces turned on, it is because I use so many “(” and “)” that they get turned into faces. I need the quotes for the names of the birds more than I need smileys. :)

White-breasted Cormorants at San Diego Zoo

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White-breasted Cormorant (Phalacrocorax lucidus) SD Zoo by Lee

White-breasted Cormorant (Phalacrocorax lucidus) SD Zoo by Lee

Update: I have seen these before at Lowry Park Zoo – My mistake :(

We see Double-crested Cormorants very frequently here in Florida. At the San Diego Zoo, we were able to see the White-breasted Cormorants. These are another one of the Lord’s neat creations which He has given them just what they need for catching their prey. They belong to the Phalacrocoracidae – Cormorant, Shag family of which has 41 species.

Cormorants and shags are medium-to-large birds, with body weight in the range of 0.35–5 kilograms (0.77–11.02 lb) and wing span of 45–100 centimetres (18–39 in). The majority of species have dark feather. The bill is long, thin and hooked. Their feet have webbing between all four toes. All species are fish-eaters, catching the prey by diving from the surface. They are excellent divers, and under water they propel themselves with their feet with help from their wings; some cormorant species have been found to dive as deep as 45 metres.

The White-breasted Cormorant (Phalacrocorax lucidus) is much like the widespread great cormorant and if not a regional variant of the same species, is at least very closely related. It is distinguished from other forms of the great cormorant by its white breast and by the fact that subpopulations are freshwater birds. Phalacrocorax lucidus is not to be confused with the smaller and very different endemic South Australian black-faced cormorant, which also is sometimes called the white-breasted cormorant. (Wikipedia)

White-breasted Cormorant (Phalacrocorax lucidus) SD Zoo by Lee

White-breasted Cormorant (Phalacrocorax lucidus) Sign SD Zoo by Lee

The sign at the San Diego Zoo shows this bird as a sub-species of the Great Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo), but the I.O.C. lists it as the White-breasted Cormorant (Phalacrocorax lucidus). “The white-breasted cormorant (Phalacrocorax lucidus) is a member of the cormorant family Phalacrocoracidae. Its taxonomic status has been under discussion for some decades and several questions still have not been definitively settled. Phalacrocorax lucidus sometimes is treated as a subspecies of the great cormorant, Phalacrocorax carbo lucidus. ” (Wikipedia) That helps explain the discrepancy.

White-breasted Cormorant (Phalacrocorax lucidus) SD Zoo by Lee

White-breasted Cormorant (Phalacrocorax lucidus) SD Zoo by Lee

I especially liked the chin on this cormorant. Thought is was interesting and different from our usual Cormorants. Also, this was a first time we have seen this White-breasted Cormorant in any of the zoos we have visited. So it gets added to the Life List of All Birds We Have Seen

White-breasted Cormorant (Phalacrocorax lucidus) SD Zoo by Lee

White-breasted Cormorant (Phalacrocorax lucidus) SD Zoo by Lee

“As its name suggests, the 80–100 cm long white-breasted cormorant has a white neck and breast when adult, and the white area tends to increase as the bird becomes more mature. In other respects it is a large cormorant generally resembling the great cormorant.”

Here are the few photos that I took of these birds.

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But the cormorant and the bittern shall possess it; the owl also and the raven shall dwell in it: and he shall stretch out upon it the line of confusion, and the stones of emptiness. (Isa 34:11)

And the pelican, and the gier eagle, and the cormorant, (Deuteronomy 14:17 KJV)

Cormorants are one the birds mentioned in the Bible. See Birds of the Bible – Cormorant

I see that both my Life List of All Birds We Have Seen and my Birdwatching Trips need some work. That ought to keep my busy this summer while most of the birds took off to their northern nesting grounds, that and trying to work on vacation photos.

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Latest Challenge of Zoo Photography

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White-breasted Cormorants at Lowry Park Zoo 12-26-14 by Lee

 But the cormorant and the bittern shall possess it; the owl also and the raven shall dwell in it: and he shall stretch out upon it the line of confusion, and the stones of emptiness. (Isaiah 34:11 KJV)

With my new Panasonic Lumix FZ200 camera in hand, off we went to Lowry Park Zoo the day after Christmas. I was itching to try out the 600 zoom compared to my 450 on the FZ47. I was content with the older camera, because as I have said before, I am a birdwatcher, not a photographer. I don’t know an “F-stop” from a “bus stop”. I shoot in Program mode.

That aside, I use the camera often, probably more than binoculars. Why? Maybe I am a little bit of a photographer because I like to see the birds when I get home. Many times I keep my bad shots because they are at least “proof shots” that I really did see the bird or to help ID it later. I leave the real good shots for Dan to take.because he knows what a “F-stop” is.

First Attempt - See the neat knots?

First Attempt – See the neat knots?

Back to my challenge. Taking photos at a Zoo can be quite challenging to say the least. Especially for “program mode” photographers. For some reason, zoos like to keep something between you and the birds, unless you are in an aviary with them. That “something” is usually a fence, bars, netting, or something to try to shoot through. They seem to like to keep their birds safe. :)

Another Attempt - Nice knots!

Another Attempt – Nice knots!

I tried again,

Nope - Not yet!

Nope – Not yet!

I backed out the zoom and tried to find the other one.

There he is

Different color netting, but same blurry bird photo.

Yuk!

Yuk!

Then, I finally got through the netting enough to see that beautiful bird.

Look at that beauty!

Look at that beauty!

Wow!

I got through the netting.

Even got the chest and some feather design.

Yeah! I got through

Yeah! I got through

Look at those eyes!

What pretty green eyes

What pretty green eyes

Our Creator gave the White-breasted Cormorants a beautiful eye color and overall neat appearance. Just this one encounter, trying to get a photo takes you through a wide range of emotions; frustration, wanting to give up, then determination and joy when you can finally see the bird clear. Reminds me of what I have been reading in Ecclesiastes.

To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven: …A time to weep, And a time to laugh; A time to mourn, And a time to dance; A time to cast away stones, And a time to gather stones; …A time to gain, And a time to lose; A time to keep, And a time to throw away (blurry photos); …A time to love, And a time to hate; …What profit has the worker from that in which he labors? I have seen the God-given task with which the sons of men are to be occupied. He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end. I know that nothing is better for them than to rejoice, and to do good in their lives, and also that every man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his labor—it is the gift of God. (Ecclesiastes 3:1-13 NKJV)

Enjoy all the photos of the cormorants and even some from a previous trip:

The white-breasted cormorant (Phalacrocorax lucidus) is much like the widespread great cormorant and if not a regional variant of the same species, is at least very closely related. It is distinguished from other forms of the great cormorant by its white breast and by the fact that subpopulations are freshwater birds. Phalacrocorax lucidus is not to be confused with the smaller and very different endemic South Australian black-faced cormorant, which also is sometimes called the white-breasted cormorant.

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Birdwatching Trips

Lowry Park Zoo

White-breasted Cormorant – Wikipedia

White-breasted Cormorant – Dallas Zoo

Wordless Birds

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