Pygmy Cormorant

The pygmy cormorant (Microcarbo pygmaeus) is a member of the Phalacrocoracidae (cormorant) family of seabirds. It breeds in south-eastern Europe and south-western Asia. It is partially migratory, with northern populations wintering further south, mostly within its breeding range. It is a rare migrant to western Europe.

Pygmy cormorants like pools with plenty of vegetation, lakes and river deltas. They avoid mountainous and cold and dry areas. They love rice fields or other flooded areas where trees and shrubs can be found. During winter they also go to waters with higher salinity, in estuaries or on barrier lakes. These are birds who can live alone or in groups and they have adapted to human presence. They build nests from sticks and reeds in dense vegetation, in trees, shrubs, willows but occasionally in reeds on small floating islets. At the end of May, beginning of June, both parents incubate for 27–30 days, and nestlings become independent after 70 days. The young are fed by their parents with small fish and other aquatic animals. This bird frequently shares the same type of habitat with egrets, herons and spoonbills.