Pelagic cormorant

Pelagic cormorant
Nonbreeding adult (probably P. p. resplendens) flying off Morro Rock (California, United States)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Suliformes
Family: Phalacrocoracidae
Genus: Urile
Species:
U. pelagicus
Binomial name
Urile pelagicus
(Pallas, 1811)
Subspecies

2 subspecies (but see text)

Synonyms

Phalacrocorax pelagicus Pallas, 1811
Leucocarbo pelagicus (Pallas, 1811)
Phalacrocorax kenyoni (Siegel-Causey, 1991)
Stictocarbo kenyoni Siegel-Causey, 1991
Stictocarbo pelagicus (Pallas, 1811)

The pelagic cormorant (Urile pelagicus), also known as Baird's cormorant or violet-green cormorant, is a small member of the cormorant family Phalacrocoracidae. Analogous to other smallish cormorants, it is also called the pelagic shag occasionally. This seabird lives along the coasts of the northern Pacific; during winter it can also be found in the open ocean.[2] Pelagic cormorants have relatively short wings due to their need for economical movement underwater, and consequently have the highest flight costs of any bird.[3]

It was formerly classified in the genus Phalacrocorax, but a 2014 study supported reclassifying it and several other Pacific cormorant species into the genus Urile.[4] The IOC followed this classification in 2021.[5]

  1. ^ BirdLife International (2019). "Urile pelagicus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2019: e.T22728950A155630943. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-3.RLTS.T22728950A155630943.en. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  2. ^ Orta (1992a)
  3. ^ Elliott, KH; Ricklefs, RE; Gaston, AJ; Hatch, SA; Speakman, JR; Davoren, GK (2013). "High flight costs and low dive costs support the biomechanical hypothesis for flightlessness in penguins". PNAS. 110 (23): 9380–9384. Bibcode:2013PNAS..110.9380E. doi:10.1073/pnas.1304838110. PMC 3677478. PMID 23690614.
  4. ^ Kennedy, Martyn; Spencer, Hamish G. (2014-10-01). "Classification of the cormorants of the world". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 79: 249–257. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2014.06.020. ISSN 1055-7903. PMID 24994028.
  5. ^ "Taxonomic Updates – IOC World Bird List". Retrieved 2021-07-28.