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What kind of bird is this sunning itself?
By Neighbor2 on Mon, 03/28/2016 - 1:45am
I've seen "anhinga" or cormorant birds sun their wings in Florida (link).
But I've never seen one in Boston. Today I saw this one on the Charles. It landed on this mooring ball and sat gently flapping its wings for at least several minutes that I watched. Anyone know what it is?
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Comments
Cormorant, I think
They're actually relatively common around here. They're diving birds - wouldn't surprise me if you told me that bird zoomed into the water not long after you took the picture. Here's a closeup of one.
cormorant
This is a cormorant. There are several species, the most common one around here is the double crested cormorant (note that you'll almost never see the "double crest"). They're pretty common around here, they look similar to anhingas.
JAY
WHAT IS THAT THING KEHD
Cormorant
Plenty of these at Jamaica Pond. Good fishermen!
As others have said, it's a
As others have said, it's a cormorant . The cormorant doesn't produce as much oil to rub its feathers with as say, a duck, so its feathers aren't waterproof. When you see one sunning itself, it's drying its feathers. I've seen them on the Charles, and the Muddy River in the Fens.
Plenty
Plenty in Boston Harbor/Harbor Islands as well.
Thermoregulation
This cormorant is using behavioral thermoregulation to adjust his body temperature. In cool weather, birds like anhingas and cormorants will sun themselves with their wings spread to increase their body temperature passively with the help of the sun.
Thanks, all
Never seen one sun its wings before. Appreciate the info.
Cormorants...
...are ubiquitous on the South Shore too, from Scituate on down to Plymouth . You'll see them with just their necks above water. Then they dive & pop up yards away from where they were. BTW-- there's a great, free app, Merlin Bird ID from the Cornell Ornithology Lab, which comes in handy when you're confronted with strange birds. Check it out
There are two cormorant species in Boston
In the summer they're all Double-crested Cormorants with bright orange bills and skin around their faces (and small white crests only very briefly in spring). They nest in huge colonies (1000s) on the outer harbor islands and in smaller numbers on a few of the closer islands.
In winter on open water they're mostly Great Cormorants, bigger, bulkier with duller bills. They breed farther north with the closest colonies in Maine. There are a few Double-cresteds that over-winter here too though in more sheltered locations, like the Charles River. To make matters more confusing the two species overlap right now with both about as likely. I believe this one is a Great Cormorant.
Also known as a shag!
Everyone's spot on with this being a cormorant....but in the UHub spirit of being local, it's worth noting that they're commonly called "shags." This (and not some ancient Austin Powers fixation) is why a very large percentage of harbors around here have a "Shag Rock" or "Shag Island."
Anhinga v. Cormorant
Anhinga have a very straight bill like a spear or arrow. Cormorants have a slight hook to the end of their bills. Otherwise very similar birds and difficult to tell the difference from a distance - and they both sun themselves the same way.
Looks like a cormorant. They
Looks like a cormorant. They're common in New York and I saw one in Back Bay a couple of weeks ago.
An anhinga here would be startling.
Probably cormorant, but...
Generally cormorants have a longer neck and their beak is slightly longer and with a small hook on the end. Could be the photo, and I'd say given the behavior and location the cormorant is still the most likely suspect.
Interesting note -- they do this because they don't have the kind of oil that makes their feathers water-resistant.
I've seen cormorants by the
I've seen cormorants by the Waterdown Dam, they like to hang out there in the summer with the herons.
Alewife Grill/Blueback Buffet
If you want to see a rendezvous of fish-snacking birds, check out where Upper Mystic Lake spills into Lower Mystic Lake in May and June. Even though the fish can make it up a ladder and over the dam now, the two herring runs bring the feasting birds in. I've even seen an eagle there!
YOU'RE ALL WRONG!!
...it's a pelican.