Little Pied Cormorant, Adelaide Zoo, South Australia

Little Pied Cormorants are common throughout much of Australia, wherever there is suitable habitat. Their preferred habitats include coastal areas, islands, estuaries, rivers, lakes, farm dams, sewage ponds – in fact, almost anywhere there is  water. We’ve even had one visit our swimming pool!

I can also remember being fascinated as a child by the occasional visit of a cormorant to our garden tank which was open at the top. My father installed this tank to store water for watering the vegetables because the mains water pressure on our farm was unreliable. Dad had also put a few small fish in the tank to eat any mosquito wrigglers, so I guess a visit was well worthwhile for a little snack. My father had a different opinion!

The birds shown in these photos were in a walk through aviary at the Adelaide Zoo. Below is one of the captive birds shown at a nest.

Little Pied Cormorant on nest, Adelaide Zoo, South Australia