Little Pied Cormorant

Posing at Alex Goudie Park in Drouin

The Little Pied Cormorant, Microcarbo melanoleucos (micro = small, carbo = charcoal (as in the Great Cormorant), melan = black and leucos = white) is distinguished by its pied plumage, dusky face and a yellow bill.

Little pieds are broadly distributed across Australia and are quite adaptable as they can be found on inland freshwater or coastal saltwater habitats – lakes and dams, wetlands, estuaries, etc. Although considered sedentary, Little Pied Cormorants may exhibit some local nomadism as water levels change or food availability alters.

A yabbie meal with a 'coot in pusuit for som scraps - Australian Garden Cranbourne

Essentially a fish eater, Little Pied Cormorants also take yabbies, shrimps and insects. They dive for their prey and can stay under for 30 seconds or so. Their fully webbed feet propel them strongly as they chase their prey and the bird will often surface from a dive quite a distance from where it started.

"Anyone got a hair dryer?"

Oddly for a diving bird, its plumage is not especially waterproof and much time is spent ‘drying out’ between food sorties.

Three of about ten birds at roost behind the sand dunes at Coronet Bay

Although it mostly hunts alone, the little pied is gregarious enough to roost and nest in small colonies.

While its numbers are thought to be stable, you can guess what threats to this species might include: degradation and alteration to waterways, urban development, agricultural practices, et al.