CORMORANT & SEAGULL

Near Dights Falls on the Yarra in Abbotsford, one may see quite a few cormorants (and of course the omnipresent seagulls). The Great Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo) is almost entirely black in plumage, apart from a white and yellow chin and a small white patch on each thigh (absent in winter). The bill is grey and the legs and feet are black, while the eyes are bright green. Young birds resemble the adults but are more dusky-brown.

Great Cormorants are probably the most widespread member of the cormorant family with a range that includes North America, Europe, Africa, China, India, Southeast Asia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and Australia. They occur throughout most of Australia but are more numerous in the south-east and south-west.

This post is part of the Saturday Silhouettes meme,

and also part of the Scenic Weekends meme,

and also part of the Saturday Critters meme,

and also part of the Camera Critters meme.