Hi there my Steemit friends and followers!
I am coming with another episode of my Wildlife of Yucatan series. Today, I would like to introduce you to a very interesting feathered inhabitant of the Yucatan Peninsula, the double-crested cormorant.
These birds are very abundant in the small coastal town of Telchac Puerto where I lived just until recently and sometimes, it even looked like the cormorants were taking control of the area :) I took some photos of the birds so let me share them with you and also tell you something more about these majestic animals.
Reaching up to 90 cm (35 in) in length, the double-crested cormorant is a large water bird with a massive body, long neck and distinctive hooked bill.
Inhabiting both inland waterways as well as seaside areas, the bird is commonly found in North America and even in some parts of Central America.
Similarly to the pelican, the cormorant also hunts fish by diving – it can actually dive up to 30 m (100 ft) to catch a fish! Unlike pelicans, however, cormorants can also actively chase their prey underwater with propulsion created by their powerful webbed feet.
Since the birds´ wings are not completely waterproof, they often stand with their wings stretched out in the air to dry.
The double-crested cormorants mostly feed on fish but they can also eat crustaceans and amphibians.
I wish I took some videos of these guys too because while resting on these metal constructions, they often made very strange deep guttural noise that kind of sounds like the pig grunt. I found out they make this sound during mating or as a display of aggressive behavior. Hopefully, they were not thinking about attacking me :D
I hope you enjoyed this post and possibly also learned something new. Have a great day everyone and Steem on! :)
Pád do 30 m!! Neuveriteľné!!!
Obrázky jak z Hitchcocka :D
To jo, ale "Džondírci" to nejsou ;)
Kormoráni kam se podíváš ;-)
Přesně :) Ty jsi říkal, že jsi nějaké viděl i u nás v ČR, že?
Naposledy před deseti lety na Pálavě na Novomlýnských nádržích.
I can see how you love wildlife from all the posts you did about it! I remember seeing iguanas everywhere when in Yucatan. :) Fun to know that those cormorants stand with their wings stretched because their wings are not completely waterproof.
Oh yeah, you already know me hehe :)) Ah, those iguanas... I have dedicated tons of posts here on Steemit to them :D Have I introduced you to Ricky btw? :D
Thanks for stopping by Donica :) And thanks for curating my posts for Steemit World Map - truly appreciated! :)
:) Rikinek
We have problems with these birds in the Finnish Archipelago. The problem is that they shit all over the place and almost everything dies. They usually pick small islands and the islands become white. Some say also that they eat too much fish and because of this the fish in the sea has decreased!
Wooow, really?! I didn´t even know they occur in Finland, I would think it is too cold for them. But these issues sound pretty serious! Wow. Thanks for sharing this info with us, I really had no idea...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_cormorant ...Well, it's not exactly the same bird but it belongs to the same "Cormorant family" :)
Hello @phortun :) I like your blog and looking up your posts ^^ Happy to follow you and look your interesting posts in future. :)
Thank you Alex, I really appreciate that :)
Man that's some big birds! And I would have never thought that birds are able to dive that deep o.O!
Also great photos, especially Picture 3, It has a great field of depth. Great Job!
Thanks man! Actually, the 30-m dive is through the air, like a free fall - the "underwater dive" that these birds are capable of is "just" 9 m :)
Well that's still pretty impressive! Hope you have a great weekend!
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