Great cormorant

How it lives

Great cormorants nest in colonies, in trees, on cliff ledges or on rocky islands. A pair lays 3 to 5 eggs, and they hatch after about 28 to 31 days. Chicks fledge at about 48 to 52 days. Birds usually first breed at about 3 to 5 years. A typical bird that reaches breeding age lives about 11 years more, and the oldest ringed bird in the UK reached 21 years 6 months.

Where it goes

Some populations stay put and others migrate. In Britain, birds are resident, and many more arrive from continental Europe in winter. In northern Europe, birds show chain migration: northern birds winter in areas that southern breeding birds leave for places further south.

We only draw a journey on the map when scientists have tracked it or clearly documented it. For this animal we have not found one yet.

Populations

BirdLife gives a global estimate of 1.4 to 2.1 million birds, and 828,000 to 1,030,000 mature individuals in Europe. In the UK, about 8,900 pairs bred in 1998 to 2002, and about 65,000 birds wintered in 2012 to 2017. The UK winter count rose 46% between 1998 and 2023. Numbers have also risen along the western Mediterranean coast between 1957 and 2024. Six subspecies are recognised. IUCN assessed the species as Least Concern in 2018.