Scientific Name: | Urile penicillatus (Brandt, 1837) | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Scientific Name Synonyms: |
Phalacrocorax penicillatus
|
||||||||||
English Name: | Brandt's Cormorant | ||||||||||
Classification / Taxonomy | |||||||||||
Scientific Name - Concept Reference: | American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1998. Check-list of North American birds. Seventh edition. American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C. [as modified by subsequent supplements and corrections published in The Auk]. Also available online: http://www.aou.org/. | ||||||||||
Classification Level: | Species | ||||||||||
Species Group: | Vertebrate Animal | ||||||||||
Species Code: | B-BRCO | ||||||||||
|
|||||||||||
Conservation Status / Legal Designation | |||||||||||
Global Status: | G5 (Apr 2016) | ||||||||||
Provincial Status: | S1B,S4N (Mar 2015) | ||||||||||
BC List: | Red | ||||||||||
Provincial FRPA list: | |||||||||||
Provincial Wildlife Act: | |||||||||||
COSEWIC Status: | |||||||||||
SARA Schedule: | |||||||||||
General Status Canada: | 2 - May be at risk (2005) | ||||||||||
Migratory Bird Convention Act: | |||||||||||
Ecology & Life History | |||||||||||
General Description: | |||||||||||
Global Reproduction Comments: | Egg laying occurs mainly in June in British Columbia, late May and June in northern California, mid-April to early July in central California, and late February to mid-June in southern California (Johnsgard 1993). Both parents, in turn, incubate 3-6 (usually 3-4) eggs. Incubation lasts 28-32 days. Nestlings altricial. Fledging occurs at about 40-42 days. Single brooded but some lay replacement clutch if first clutch is lost. On Farallon Islands, females first bred at modal age of 2 years (mostly 2-5 years), males at 4 years (mostly 3-5 years); mate fidelity is low; the most successful individuals fledged 10-20 chicks over their lifetime; all adults skipped breeding at least one year during their reproductive lifetime; food availability affected many reproductive parameters; reproductive success varied considerably among years (Boekelheide and Ainley 1989). | ||||||||||
Global Ecology Comments: | Gathers in flocks in feeding areas. Male establishes territory in immediate area of nest. In winter in California, made 55-km round trips between roost and feeding area (see Johnsgard 1993). Increased sea surface temperatures, such as those associated with El Nino events, were correlated with decreases in nesting populations in Washington (Wilson 1991). Gulls commonly prey on eggs and chicks. | ||||||||||
Migration Characteristics: (Global / Provincial) | |||||||||||
Nonmigrant: Local Migrant: Distant Migrant: Within Borders Migrant: |
Y / Y / N / na / |
||||||||||
Global Migration Comments: | Resident throughout year near nesting areas, but ranges more widely when not breeding. Post-breeding dispersal from colonies on west coast of United States occurs in July and August as thousands move north to the waters of southern British Columbia and Puget Sound; a gradual movement southward begins in September and October, but at least 10,000 to 15,000 overwinter in Puget Sound, the Strait of Georgia, and Juan de Fuca Strait (Campbell et al. 1990, Johnsgard 1993). | ||||||||||
Habitats: (Type / Subtype / Dependence) |
Ocean / Marine Island / Facultative - frequent use
Ocean / Sheltered Waters - Marine / Facultative - frequent use Ocean / Subtidal Marine / Facultative - frequent use Rock/Sparsely Vegetated Rock / Rock/Sparsely Vegetated Rock / Obligate |
||||||||||
Global Habitat Comments: | Mainly inshore coastal zone, especially in areas having kelp beds; also around some offshore islands; less commonly, inshore on brackish bays; in winter, mostly around sheltered inlets and other quiet waters (Palmer 1962, AOU 1983, Johnsgard 1993). Typically nests on flat or gently sloping surfaces on tops of rocky islands along coast, favoring protected leeward sides of islands; frequently nests with other sea birds; may sometimes use wider ledges of mainland cliffs. Nest is built on ground by both sexes, may be re-used in subsequent year. | ||||||||||
Food Habits: |
Invertivore: Adult, Immature
Piscivore: Adult, Immature |
||||||||||
Global Food Habits Comments: | Feeds on small saltwater fishes, especially those at or near the bottom but also those throughout the water column (schooling and nonschooling species), and squid; primarily on fishes of no commercial value. Also feeds on crabs and shrimps. In the north, feeds more often over sand or mud bottoms than does the pelagic cormorant. See Johnsgard (1993) for further information. | ||||||||||
Global Phenology: |
Diurnal: Adult, Immature
|
||||||||||
Provincial Phenology: (1st half of month/ 2nd half of month) |
|||||||||||
Colonial Breeder: | Y | ||||||||||
Length(cm)/width(cm)/Weight(g): | 89/ / 2103 | ||||||||||
Elevation (m) (min / max): |
Global:
Provincial: |
||||||||||
Distribution | |||||||||||
Endemic: | N | ||||||||||
Global Range Comment: | BREEDING: coastally along Pacific coast from southern Alaska (very local, Prince William Sound and Hazy Island near Coronation Island) and Vancouver Island and Washington (small, local populations) south to Baja California, including Pacific coastal islands of Baja; local on some islands in the Gulf of California (San Pedro Martir, Salsipuedes, and Roca Blanca) (Johnsgard 1993). NON-BREEDING: mostly near nesting areas. Common to very abundant as a non-breeder in southern British Columbia (Campbell et al. 1990). Extends north to Prince Williams Sound, Alaska and to southern Baja California. | ||||||||||
Authors / Contributors | |||||||||||
Global Information Author: | Hammerson, G. | ||||||||||
Last Updated: | Feb 17, 1994 | ||||||||||
Provincial Information Author: | |||||||||||
Last Updated: | |||||||||||
References and Related Literature | |||||||||||
American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1983. Check-list of North American Birds, 6th edition. Allen Press, Inc., Lawrence, Kansas. 877 pp. |
|||||||||||
Boekelheide, R. J., and D. G. Ainley. 1989. Age, resource availability, and breeding effort in Brandt's cormorant. Auk 106:389-401. |
|||||||||||
Campbell, R. W., N. K. Dawe, I. McTaggart-Cowan, J. M. Cooper, G. W. Kaiser, and M. C. E. McNall. 1990a. The Birds of British Columbia. Volume 1. Nonpasserines: Introduction and loons through waterfowl. University of British Columbia Press, Vancouver, BC, Canada. 514 pp. |
|||||||||||
Campbell, R.W., N.K. Dawe, I.McT. Cowan, J.M. Cooper, G. Kaiser, and M.C.E. McNall. 1990. The Birds of British Columbia, Vol. 1. Nonpasserines: Introduction, Loons through Waterfowl. Royal B.C. Mus. in association with Environ. Can., Can. Wildl. Serv. 514pp. |
|||||||||||
Couch, S., and M. Lance. 2004. Diet Composition and Breeding Success of Brandt's Cormorants in the Columbia River Estuary. Northwest. Nat. 85(2):62-66. |
|||||||||||
Harrison, C. 1978. A Field Guide to the Nests, Eggs and Nestlings of North American Birds. Collins, Cleveland, Ohio. |
|||||||||||
Johnsgard, P. A. 1993. Cormorants, darters, and pelicans of the world. Smithsonian Institute Press, Washington, D.C. xiv + 445 pp. |
|||||||||||
Lensink, C. J. 1984. The status and conservation of seabirds in Alaska. Pages 13-27 in Croxall et al., eds. Status and conservation of the world's seabirds. ICBP Tech. Publ. No. 2. |
|||||||||||
Palmer, R. S. (editor). 1962. Handbook of North American birds. Vol. 1. Loons through flamingos. Yale University Press, New Haven. 567 pp. |
|||||||||||
Siegel-Causey, D. 1988. Phylogeny of the Phalacrocoracidae. Condor 90:885-905. |
|||||||||||
Spendelow, J. A. and S. R. Patton. 1988. National Atlas of Coastal Waterbird Colonies in the Contiguous United States: 1976-1982. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Biological Report 88(5). x + 326 pp. |
|||||||||||
Terres, J. K. 1980. The Audubon Society encyclopedia of North American birds. Alfred A. Knopf, New York. |
|||||||||||
Vermeer, K., and S. G. Sealy. 1984. Status of the nesting seabirds of British Columbia. Pages 29-40 in Croxall et al., eds. Status and conservation of the world's seabirds. ICBP Tech. Pub. No. 2. |
|||||||||||
Wilson, U. W. 1991e. Responses of three seabird species to El Nino events and other warm water episodes on the Washington coast, 1979-1990. Condor 93:853-858. |
|||||||||||
Please visit the website Conservation Status Ranks for definitions of the data fields used in this summary report.
B.C. Conservation Data Centre. 1994. Species Summary: Urile penicillatus. B.C. Minist. of Environment. Available: https://a100.gov.bc.ca/pub/eswp/ (accessed Apr 17, 2024).