page_title: Double-crested cormorant
section_title: Diet
hierarchical_section_title: Double-crested cormorant / Behavior / Diet
caption_attribution_description: English: Two Double-crested Cormorants (Phalacrocorax auritus) and one fish. Like all cormorants, the double-crested dives to find its prey. It mainly eats fish. Fish are caught by diving under water. Smaller fish may be eaten while the bird is still beneath the surface but bigger prey is often brough to the surface before it is eaten.
context_page_description: The double-crested cormorant is a member of the cormorant family of seabirds. Its habitat is near rivers and lakes as well as in coastal areas, and is widely distributed across North America, from the Aleutian Islands in Alaska down to Florida and Mexico. Measuring 70–90 cm in length, it is an all-black bird which gains a small double crest of black and white feathers in breeding season. It has a bare patch of orange-yellow facial skin. Five subspecies are recognized. It mainly eats fish and hunts by swimming and diving. Its feathers, like those of all cormorants, are not waterproof and it must spend time drying them out after spending time in the water. Once threatened by the use of DDT, the numbers of this bird have increased markedly in recent years.
context_section_description: Food can be found in the sea, freshwater lakes, and rivers. Like all cormorants, the double-crested dives to find its prey. It mainly eats fish, but will sometimes also eat amphibians and crustaceans. Fish are caught by diving under water. Smaller fish may be eaten while the bird is still beneath the surface but bigger prey is often brought to the surface before it is eaten. Double-crested cormorants are also considered pests to aquaculturists because of their intense predation on fish ponds which can cause thousands of dollars in losses to farmers. 
  Cormorants regurgitate pellets containing undigested parts of their meals such as bones. These pellets can be dissected by biologists in order to discover what the birds ate.
caption: With a fish
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