Cormorant

Cormorants and shags Temporal range: 24–0 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N Late Oligocene – present
Little pied cormorant Microcarbo melanoleucos
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Suliformes
Family:	Phalacrocoracidae Reichenbach, 1850
Type genus
Phalacrocorax
Genera
Microcarbo Poikilocarbo Urile Phalacrocorax Gulosus Nannopterum Leucocarbo
Synonyms
Australocorax Lambrecht, 1931 Compsohalieus B. Brewer & Ridgway, 1884 Cormoranus Baillon, 1834 Dilophalieus Coues, 1903 Ecmeles Gistel, 1848 Euleucocarbo Voisin, 1973 Halietor Heine, 1860 Hydrocorax Vieillot, 1819 (non Brisson, 1760: preoccupied) Hypoleucus Reichenbach, 1852 Miocorax Lambrecht, 1933 Nesocarbo Voisin, 1973 Notocarbo Siegel-Causey, 1988 Pallasicarbo Coues, 1903 Paracorax Lambrecht, 1933 Pliocarbo Tugarinov, 1940 Stictocarbo Bonaparte, 1855 Viguacarbo Coues, 1903 Anatocarbo Nanocorax (see text)

Phalacrocoracidae is a family of approximately 40 species of aquatic birds commonly known as cormorants and shags. Several different classifications of the family have been proposed, but in 2021 the International Ornithologists' Union (IOU) adopted a consensus taxonomy of seven genera.^[1] The great cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo) and the common shag (Gulosus aristotelis) are the only two species of the family commonly encountered in Britain and Ireland^[2] and "cormorant" and "shag" appellations have been later assigned to different species in the family somewhat haphazardly.

Cormorants and shags are medium-to-large birds, with body weight in the range of 0.35–5 kilograms (0.77–11.02 lb) and wing span of 60–100 centimetres (24–39 in). The majority of species have dark feathers. The bill is long, thin and hooked. Their feet have webbing between all four toes. All species are fish-eaters, catching the prey by diving from the surface. They are excellent divers, and under water they propel themselves with their feet with help from their wings; some cormorant species have been found to dive as deep as 45 metres (150 ft). They have relatively short wings due to their need for economical movement underwater, and consequently have among the highest flight costs of any flying bird.^[3]

Cormorants nest in colonies around the shore, on trees, islets or cliffs. They are coastal rather than oceanic birds, and some have colonised inland waters. The original ancestor of cormorants seems to have been a fresh-water bird.^{[citation needed]} They range around the world, except for the central Pacific islands.