Male Brandt's Cormorants display for females by squatting down, fanning their wings, pointing their bills and tails skyward, and flashing their blue throat pouches in a bid to impress.
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Brandt's Cormorant
The Brandt's Cormorant occurs along the Pacific coast from Alaska to Mexico. The species was first confirmed breeding in Canada in 1965 (Stirling and Buffam [1996] in Campbell et al., 1990), and has been documented irregularly since then. Somewhat larger numbers overwinter in southern British Columbia (K. Morgan, ECCC, pers. comm.), with an estimated average winter population of 1,800 individuals in Canada. This is slightly more than 1% of the global population, representing a low level of responsibility for Canada. There has been little change in abundance relative to the 1970s, based on the Christmas Bird Count. There is medium confidence in this assessment because the source is not highly standardized. The national population of Brandt's Cormorant is within its goal range.
Since being confirmed as a breeder in Canada in 1965, the Canadian breeding population has grown as large as 185 pairs in 1975, but has also been absent in many years, with observations since 2010 limited to two sites (Carter et al., 2014). However, the breeding population has not been monitored consistently enough to define a long-term trend. The Christmas Bird Count (CBC) provides the best basis for trend assessment, as it has annual coverage since 1970, and samples the larger Canadian wintering population. It shows little change in abundance over that period, with current levels nearly identical to those in the early 1970s. The British Columbia Coastal Waterbird Survey suggests an increase in the wintering population since the late 1990, but the results are imprecise and reliability is too low to influence the overall assessment of the species.
The goal for Brandt's Cormorant is to remain at or above its average population level from 1970 to 2022, based on the Christmas Bird Count. Recent data show that the population is within its goal range.
| Designation | Geographic Area | Status | CITATION |
|---|---|---|---|
| IUCN | Global | Least Concern | |
| Wild Species | Canada | Imperiled |
- Campbell, R.W., N.K. Dawe, I. McTaggart-Cowan, J.M. Cooper, G.W. Kaiser, and M.C.E. McNall. 1990a. The Birds of British Columbia. Vol. 1: Nonpasserines- Introduction, Loons Through Waterfowl. UBC Press, Vancouver, BC. 531 pp.
- Carter, H.R., M.A. Lambert, and D. Donnecke. 2014. Breeding of Brandt's Cormorant on Mandarte Island in 2013. Victoria Naturalist 70(3):6.
Male Brandt's Cormorants display for females by squatting down, fanning their wings, pointing their bills and tails skyward, and flashing their blue throat pouches in a bid to impress.
Brandt's Cormorant is reported throughout the year in Canada. The lowest rates of observation in spring and early summer may represent a change in behaivour during the breeding season.