Great Cormorant in breeding plumage
Currently IUCN Red list classifies the conservation status of the Great Cormorant, Phalacrocorax carbo, as of Least concern. However it was not so always
Many fishermen see in the Great Cormorant a competitor for fish. Because of this it was nearly hunted to extinction in the past. Thanks to conservation efforts its numbers increased. At the moment there are about 1,2 million birds in Europe (based on winter counts. Late summer counts would show higher numbers). Increasing populations have once again brought the cormorant into conflict with fisheries. For example, in Britain, where inland breeding was once uncommon, there are now increasing numbers of birds breeding inland, and many inland fish farms and fisheries now claim to be suffering high losses due to these birds. In the UK each year some licences are issued to shoot specified numbers of cormorants in order to help reduce predation, it is however still illegal to kill a bird without such a licence.
Now with claims of huge losses by the will the indiscriminate killing being again? Will the Great Cormorant be again fighting for survival? I sincerely hope not!!
As interesting side note the human relationship with Cormorants is varied. Chinese fishermen sometimes tie fishing line around the throats of cormorants, tight enough to prevent swallowing, and deploy them from small boats. The cormorants “eat” fish without being able to fully swallow them, and the fishermen are able to retrieve the fish simply by forcing open the cormorants’ mouths, apparently engaging the regurgitation reflex. This traditional fishing method is known as Cormorant fishing.
In Norway cormorants is a traditional game bird. Each year 10,000 cormorants are shot to be eaten. In North Norway, cormorants are traditionally seen as semi-sacred. It is regarded as good luck to have cormorants gather near your village or settlement. An old legend states that people who die far out at sea, their bodies never recovered, spend eternity on the island Utrøst – which can only occasionally be found by mortals. The inhabitants of Utrøst can only visit their homes in the shape of cormorants.
Ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Cormorant
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What are they? Nice shot!
Nice shot
Great capture, nice and sharp!
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Nice shot
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good timing.
Superb catch!..
wonderful shot
Love them.
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thanks for visiting my fren…lovely image…enjoy your tuesday & take care – tank
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Great Shot, Beautiful & nice Details,
Fabulous
Wonderful Shot My friend ..!!
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very good life frame…
SAVE OUR WILDLIFE!!!
save tree! save life!
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Nice image
amazing
very beautiful capture…
Beautiful capture, Excellent details friend, Thanks for the info, but still I am not sure about the Id!! Will find out shortly!!!
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Excellent capture !
Nice pair and good details on the wings.
stunning birds! never seen
Wonderful capture of these birds … very nice details!
Interesting story ! Thank you for sharing my friend!
Nice shot and I would say so I’ve seen so many lately but your are right I remember just a few years ago never seeing any
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Excellent shot..! Have a good Tuesday..!!))
great capture and tks for visiting my photostream
Incredible birds. It’s amazing to watch them take off!
wonderful capture..
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Amazing shot…………
Nice capture
very good capture….
Hi, I’m an admin for a group called Winged Water Wonders (Post 1 – Comment 1), and we’d love to have this added to the group!
Nice!!!
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Very nice catch!
great shot
Very well taken. congratulations on Explored.
Fantastic shot!!!
Nice capture ..congrats !
WOW!!!!
Beautiful capture!!!!
Great capture!..Love it!
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Nice writeup. Its fortunate that we have a few pairs resident in the CME wetlands where I live. (Find a press report about our unique sewage to biodiversity converting ecosystem on my blog). Strange that this bird should be persecuted in the West where people are well-fed and not in the East where it truly would take a fish away from the table of a poor man. Instead the East adapted to use the cormorant’s behaviour to help it feed the fisherman’s family. The British in India never considered the Cormorant a game-bird, strange to see it eaten in Europe.
I have seen a few fishermen from Orissa who were in Nagpur on a holiday eat Little Cormorant (they were duly reprimanded and shooed away). I was very surprised to see that but they told that it was common in their village.
Amazing capture!
beautiful pair
just wonderful shot
thanks for sharing the information
Beautiful shot.
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Beautiful capture!
Bravo!
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Wonderful opportunity and capture of this pair!
Great photo of one of my favorite birds and in their mating dress too! Nice work!
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Excellent bird shot !
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