High in the tree it perches...

This species of the Cormorant family is slightly different than the common Cormorants being that its northern most habitat border barely reaches the southern tip of the Coastal area of Texas in the United States. It's most commonly known as the Neotropic Cormorant, but it's also listed in some of my bird guides as the Olivaceous Cormorant. It is also the smallest of the Cormorants, and rarely seen too far inland away from the Gulf of Mexico, lakes, or ponds nearby. Since the 1960s, this species was rapidly declining in Texas of which the cause is still not known. Reportedly, they are making a come back....more frequently spotted. How to tell them apart from the more popular Crested Cormorant is by the white 'ring' surrounding the yellow gold base of their beaks. This bird, along with its cousins are closely related to the frigatebirds and boobies. Oftentimes seen with their wings wide open, there is a reason: They have less preen oil than other birds, so their feathers can get soaked rather than shedding water like a duck’s; they have to spread their wings to dry. But, being that the feathers get 'soaked', I would think this factor would be an advantage for their expert swimming and diving skills. Quite a while ago, I read that large pebbles are occasionally found in cormorant nests, and the cormorants treat them as eggs. I, on the other hand would like to look at this known phenomenon as a 'baby sitter'...the warm sun would heat the rocks and keep the eggs warm in the parents' absence?!!! What do I know? It's just a thought. I've only seen these Neotropics once before at another location, at the time I had no camera with me to get a zoomed in shot, so I just watched it for a while and eventually continued my walk in the nearby woods along the bay waters. The photo at the top left is of an egret below and higher in the reaches of the tree's branches is the Neotropic Cormorant...which, by the way, the Neotropic is more adapted than its relatives to perching....

NEOTROPIC [Olivaceous] CORMORANT
photos taken: Lakeview Park - Corpus Christi, Texas
Habitat Range:



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...for comparison, here is the Double Crested Cormorant that is more common in this area [notice the all yellow bill/beak, instead of the two-tone of the neotropic]:



DOUBLE CRESTED CORMORANT
photo taken: Hans Suter Wildlife Refuge
Habitat Range:


Another day's outing early in the morning we walked the trail near the North Bay [on the other side of the Harbor Bridge toward Portland, Texas] to see many different birds all in one place. Spotted were, long billed curlews, great blue herons, snowy egrets, reddish egrets [both in white morph and 'normal' plumage], stilts, several species of plovers and sandpipers, a trio of neoptropic cormorants, spoonbills, vultures, yellow lesserlegs, grackles, one lone warbler that was too quick to photograph, and more...
Sharing with you these today:



BLACK BELLIED PLOVER
photo taken: Indian Point Park - Portland, Texas
Habitat Range:





BLACK NECKED STILTS [1st time ever for me to see them LAYING down!]
photo taken: Indian Point Park - Portland, Texas
Habitat Range:





SEMIPALMATED PLOVER
photos taken: Indian Point Park - Portland, Texas
Habitat Range:

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