Cormorants at Huntington Beach

Close-up of the face of a double-crested cormorant

Ol' Blue Eyes

This cormorant served as a greeter along the causeway near the park entrance, standing halfway down the sidewalk and allowing respectful visitors a close approach. A cormorant greeted us in similar fashion when we visited the Everglades in Florida over a decade earlier. With a closeup profile of the face, you can see the cormorant's beautiful blue eyes.

Contortionist

A preening cormorant contorts its head so that it can get at its neck feathers, grabbing the feathers in its bill and then dragging the bill across the feathers to remove any debris or parasites lurking under the surface. It had to maneuver its head in a variety of positions to cover its entire body.

Close-up of a double-crested cormorant as it preens

Hide and Seek

Where's the cormorant?
Where's the cormorant?
Where's the cormorant?
There he is!

A torso-shot of the cormorant, showing its wet wing and back feathers. While many water birds have oil in their feathers to keep the water out, cormorants do not and get soaked every time they dive for fish, having to rely on the sun to dry out their feathers. This one was already starting to dry and didn't resort to the wings spread pose they often strike to speed up the drying process.

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