Double-Crested Cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus)


Group	Cormorants
Code	ABNFD01020
Order	Pelecaniformes
Family	Phalacrocoracidae
Author	(Lesson, 1831)
Rank	G5 (definitions)
Occurrence	SM (definitions)
Scale	N (definitions)

County List:


Western UP	Houghton, Marquette, Dickinson, Ontonagon, Delta, Baraga
Eastern UP	Mackinac, Alger, Chippewa
Northern LP	Emmet, Leelanau, Midland, Bay, Arenac, Cheboygan, Alpena, Charlevoix
Southern LP	Jackson, Monroe, Saginaw, Muskegon

Rule:

Forested or Mixed Forested/Nonforested Landscapes

Foraging and Nesting Habitat Requirements may be distributed over the NEIGHBORHOOD

Foraging Habitat:
      Lake or River

Nesting Habitat 1st alternative:
      (Lake or River)
   adjacent to:
      ((Swamp Hardwoods (Sm Saw or Lg Saw or Uneven)) 
      or (Bottomland Hardwoods (Sm Saw or Lg Saw or Uneven)) 
      or (Mixed Lowland Conifer (Sm Saw or Lg Saw or Uneven)) 
      or (Mixed Lowland Hardwood (Sm Saw or Lg Saw or Uneven))

Nesting Habitat 2nd alternative:
      (Lake or River)
   containing:
      Snags

view decision rule term definitions

Habitat List:

Habitats	Regen	Sap	Pole	Sm Saw	Lg Saw	Uneven
Aspen	no	no	no	no	no	-
Paper Birch	no	no	no	no	no	-
Oak	no	no	no	no	no	no
Assorted Hardwoods	no	no	no	no	no	no
Northern Hardwoods	no	no	no	no	no	no
Spruce/Fir	no	no	no	no	no	no
Hemlock	no	no	no	no	no	no
Jack Pine	no	no	no	no	no	no
Red Pine	no	no	no	no	no	no
White Pine	no	no	no	no	no	no
Conifer Plantations	no	no	no	no	no	-
Mixed Upland Hardwoods	no	no	no	no	no	no
Mixed Northern Hardwoods	no	no	no	no	no	no
Mixed Upland Conifer	no	no	no	no	no	no
Mixed Pine	no	no	no	no	no	no
Swamp Hardwoods	no	no	no	YES	YES	YES
Balsam Poplar & Swamp Aspen & Swamp Birch	no	no	no	no	no	no
Bottomland Hardwoods	no	no	no	YES	YES	YES
Tamarack	no	no	no	no	no	no
Northern White Cedar	no	no	no	no	no	no
Black Spruce	no	no	no	no	no	no
Mixed Lowland Hardwoods	no	no	no	YES	YES	YES
Mixed Lowland Conifer	no	no	no	YES	YES	YES
Non-Forested	Lake, River
Special Features	Snags, Riparian

view size class definitions

Literature:

Ludwig, J. P. 1991. Double-crested Cormorant. Pages 102-103 In: R. Brewer, G. A. McPeek, and R. J. Adams, Jr. (eds.) The atlas of breeding birds of Michigan. Michigan State University Press, East Lansing. 594 pp.

Habitat: This colonial breeder nests on rocky coasts, islands, and inland on some larger lakes and rivers. Roughly a third of the nests are placed in trees, where they resemble small Great Blue Heron nests. The rest of the nests are typically placed on the ground, built of coarse short sticks and often in layers added year after year.

Great Lakes cormorants eat small fish, such as alewives, smelt, yellow perch, and nine-spined sticklebacks.

Kaufman, K. 1996. Lives of North American Birds. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, Massachusetts. 675 pp.

Habitat: Coasts, bays, lakes, rivers. Very adaptable; may be found in almost any aquatic habitat from rocky northern coasts to mangrove swamps to large reservoirs to small inland ponds. Nests in trees near or over water, on sea cliffs, or on ground on islands.

Diet: Fish and other aquatic life. Diet varies with season and place, includes very large variety of fish, also crabs, shrimp, crayfish, frogs, salamanders, eels; sometimes snakes, mollusks, plant material.

Nest: Site is near water on cliff ledge, on ground on island, or at any height in tree.

Doepker, R. 2000. Personal Communication.

Cormorants at Groveland Mine, MI nest in snags over water.