Cormorant Home Improvement Project

Cormorant Home Improvement Project
Point Lobos State Park
Carmel, CA
Spring/Summer 2021

If you have the patience, Brandt’s cormorant colonies are entertaining to watch. In a simple and relaxed sort of way. Like a slowed down version of “Housewives of Point Lobos” where all the housewives (and househusbands) look alike and where not a lot happens. When it comes to nature, I guess I am easily entertained. I may stand around for an hour or two while most people spend only a minute and then move on to other sights.

One can watch the birds fly in and out. One parent keeps the eggs or nestlings warm, while the other is at sea fishing. The pairs, especially early in the season, frequently interact physically with what I call kissing and necking, where they engage their beaks and rub their necks together. Some can be seen in their comical breeding display dance and occasionally you can witness them mating. There are frequent squabbles between nesting neighbors and with the western gulls when they get too close. Eventually there is the egg-laying, hatching and quick growth of the chicks. The feeding of the chicks can look quite dramatic with the nestling forcing its entire head into the throat of the parent.

One of the most amusing activities to watch is the ritual of the male cormorants bringing new nesting material to the female on the nest. To our eyes, male and female cormorants look alike and they share most of the child rearing tasks. But the area where there is a division of labor is in nest building and maintenance (and egg laying, of course.) The male gathers the nesting components including seaweed, sticks and plants while the female arranges and glues them together using her own guano (poop). The nest needs constant upkeep for the duration of the laying of eggs and rearing of the young. The males can be seen wobbling along on their two big feet, wings open for balance, carrying material in their beaks. They then drop it in front of the female and she goes about integrating it into the nest. Sometimes both males and females will steal choice nesting items from other birds. This often leads to a ruckus and minor altercations.

Please do not use photographs without permission. To inquire about permission, contact Carla at: brennan.carla@gmail.com.