It isn’t known if this is a novel technique unique to only a few individuals or it’s more widespread among cormorants but just hadn’t been seen or recorded before. Either way, I think it’s fascinating.
1/1500, f/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
First some background.
Cormorants in general (we have six species of them in North America) feed primarily on fish and they’re highly skilled at capturing them underwater. This is a Double-crested Cormorant I photographed a couple of years ago with a fish at a local pond. They have several unique adaptations for swallowing large prey and though this bird didn’t swallow this very large fish another cormorant did. I thought it would likely be too big for them to swallow but the second cormorant swallowed it slick as a whistle. They’re highly opportunistic when it comes to what types of fish they eat and they’ve been documented to prey on over 250 fish species.
But now perhaps a new species needs to be added to the list.
Several days ago blog follower Jo Ann Donnelly sent me a link to a fascinating video clip from National Geographic. In the clip diving cormorants are seen wrenching remoras (“suckerfish”) from the underside of a gigantic whale shark off of the tip of Mexico’s Baja California Peninsula. They don’t come off easily so it’s quite a struggle for the cormorants but they get the job done. National Geographic says that as far as they can determine it’s a behavior that had never been filmed before.
Well, you know me and behaviors. I was enthralled by the clip and watched it several times so I thought some of my readers might be interested too. Here’s the link. I highly recommend it if you haven’t seen it before.
Thanks, Jo Ann.
Ron
I will watch it when I get home, sounds interesting!
I watched the NatGeo clip, and your original post of this cormorant. Amazing video and photos.
Swallowing that fish begs the question as to how they digest. What a huge and tough gizzard they must have. And do they eject a pellet? How do they keep those spines from getting caught on the way up? This along with the forward wake when they land on water (as you pointed out in another post) and their feather/oil adaptation for swimming underwater. What a bird.
What a bird is right, Lyle. They’re unusually specialized. Here’s something from BNA on some additional specializations:
“Grasping of fish is aided by hooklike nail at tip of maxilla (upper half of bill) and by muscles attached to occipital style (xiphoid). This pointed bone, articulating at posterior part of skull, is present only in cormorants and anhingas. Wide jaw-opening is facilitated by nasal-frontal hinge at junction with cranium.”
Huge thanks to Jo Anne. And ouch. That sucker fish really didn’t want to be removed. I suspect the whale shark ‘felt’ that.
I’m sure it did, EC.
OMG, Ron!! I have company coming tomorrow so I’m just now reading your post!! I am totally honored to have appeared in your blog!! When I saw it I had immediately thought of you because you are always drawn to the behaviors of birds – especially when it’s unusual!! And boy is that behavior unusual!! I also admire the way you gave credit to me & to April & Haley with their photo of the Ruffed Grouse’s feet the other day!! You are absolutely honorable which is one of many reasons I admire you so much!! As for your Double Breasted Cormorant photo – WOW!! You can’t even say “What a Big mouth you have”!! Great Blue Herons are another bird that swallows large fish that you just can’t imagine initially how they are going to swallow it, Thanks again – SO much!!
Credit where credit’s due, Jo Ann. Thanks again for sending the link.
Jo Ann, thank you for sending the clip to Ron and Ron, thank you for posting it. Absolutely fascinating! Just when I think bird and fish behaviors can’t get any weirder… 😜
The more we learn about them I don’t think the weirdness will ever end. Thanks, Marty.
Very interesting and satisfying to me as my love of birds is seconded by under water creatures. I would love to see a whale shark in the wild. Thank you for the video and the information.
Me too, to swim with one would be a blast. Thanks, Betty.
The fish in the photo is a bass, probably a smallmouth bass. Hutch
Good to know for sure. Wonder how it got there. That pond is stocked with trout but not with bass.
Really interesting– could it be that all the harrying wears down the fish to the point that it can’t erect its scary stiff dorsal fin anymore, making it a little easier for the bird
to swallow the fish headfirst ?
Thanks, Kris. Could be…
Absolutely fascinating….I love learning things about nature..Thanks Ron and Thanks Jo Ann
Glad you enjoyed it, Steve. Thanks.
VBG! It is amazing what they can/will swallow – I always wonder if any bird ever chokes trying to do that or if there is some mechanism in their throats etc. that stops it before it gets to that point. Fascinating watching them go after the Remoras and capture them. Shark must not be interested in the birds as a snack tho that shark doesn’t look like a meat eater……….:)
That’s right, Judy. Whale sharks aren’t meat eaters – they’re filter feeders. They’re the largest fish on the planet and very slow-moving.
This from Wiki: “The largest confirmed individual had a length of 12.65 m (41.5 ft) and a weight of about 21.5 t (47,000 lb)”
Outstanding action shot of the Cormorant with the fish. Have often watched Grebes, Cormorants, Herons, and Egrets struggle with fish that seem way too large to be swallowed. In many cases I have run out of patience and left rather than wait for them to get the fish down. That is a very interesting and informative video. Thanks for posting it and thanks to Jo Ann for recommending it.
Everett Sanborn, Prescott AZ
So have I, Everett. And I’ve watched multiple American White Pelicans trying to swallow a carp that was so large even those huge birds couldn’t swallow it. It can be hard to predict if a particular fish will go down the hatch, or not. Thanks.
Remora plucking. That’s a new one for the resume.
Yup, it is – at least for me.
Quite amazing. Thanks for bringing it to our attention. I can usually count on learning something new when I visit your site!
Thanks, Justine. It was new to me also.