Designed by Paul Smith 2006. This website is copyrighted by law.
Material contained herewith may not be used without the prior written permission of FAUNA Paraguay.
Photographs on this page were taken by Paul Smith, Sylvia Centrón, Teatske Nieuborg and Arne Lesterhuis and are used with permission.
NEOTROPIC CORMORANT Phalcrocorax brasilianus
The only Paraguayan representative of the familiar cormorant family, the Neotropic is a drab, brownish bird that feeds mostly on fish. Unlike the superficially similar Anhinga which stabs its prey with the bill, the cormorant fishes in a more conventional way, diving and grasping the fish after a short pursuit. Once captured the fish is manipulated in the bill and swallowed head first - many Paragauayan fish are spiny, so imagine what would happen if it went down the wrong way! Swallowing the fish can cause problems for the bird, we watched the individual in the video play around with his food for 10 minutes and he still couldn´t figure out how to swallow it!
Click on the images to enlarge them.
FIGURE 1 - (FPAVE103PH) Adult ventral, Buffalo Bill´s, Departamento Presidente Hayes (Paul Smith October 2008).
FIGURE 2 - (FPAVE104PH) Pair, PROCOSARA, PN San Rafael (Paul Smith August 2006).
FIGURE 3 - (FPAVE105PH) Non-breeding adult taking flight, location unknown (Arne Lesterhuis undated).
FIGURE 4 - (FPAVE106PH) Bird with a fish, Bahía Negra,  Departamento Alto Paraguay (Paul Smith September 2006).
FIGURE 5 - (FPAVE107PH) Flock loafing on sandbank,  location unknown (Arne Lesterhuis undated).
FIGURE 6 - (FPAVE108PH) Adult in flight, near Bahía Negra, Departamento Alto Paraguay (Teatske Nieuborg 2007).
FIGURE 7 - (FPAVE109PH) Nesting colony, Isla Yacyretá, Departamento Misiones (Silvia Centrón, November 2007).
VIDEO - (FPAVE110VI) Same individual as (FPAVE106PH)  (Paul Smith September 2006).
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