Phalacrocorax sulcirostris
Silhouette: L. Shyamal · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~80% in a week >90%
The little black cormorant (Phalacrocorax sulcirostris) is a member of the cormorant family of seabirds. It is common in smaller rivers and lakes throughout most areas of Australia and northern New Zealand, where it is known as the little black shag. It is around sixty centimetres long, and is all black with blue-green eyes.
The little black cormorant was formally described in 1837 by the German born naturalist Johann Friedrich von Brandt. He placed it in the genus Carbo and coined the binomial name Carbo sulcirostris. The species is now placed in the genus Phalacrocorax that was introduced by the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in 1760. The genus name Phalacrocorax is the Latin word for a cormorant. The specific epithet sulcirostris combines the Latin sulcus meaning "furrow" with -rostris meaning "-billed". The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.
A molecular phylogenetic study published in 2019 found that the little black cormorant was sister to the Indian cormorant. It is estimated that the two species split 2.5–3.2 million years ago during the late Pliocene. The little black cormorant is a small cormorant measuring 60–65... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Royal National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 2 | Noosa National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 3 | Wilsons Promontory National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 4 | Maria Island National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 5 | Daintree National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 6 | Hattah-Kulkyne National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 7 | Kakadu National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 8 | Booderee National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 9 | Freycinet National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 10 | Kosciuszko National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 11 | Great Otway National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 12 | Springbrook National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 13 | Blue Mountains National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 14 | Ningaloo Marine Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 15 | Cape Range | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 16 | Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 17 | Grampians National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 18 | Rottnest Island | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 19 | Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 20 | Fiordland National Park | 🇳🇿 New Zealand | |
| 21 | Abel Tasman National Park | 🇳🇿 New Zealand | |
| 22 | Egmont National Park | 🇳🇿 New Zealand | |
| 23 | Lamington National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cleland Wildlife Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 2 | San Antonio Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Gembira Loka Zoo | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 4 | Surabaya Zoo | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 5 | Australian Reptile Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 6 | Featherdale Sydney Wildlife Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 7 | Bali Bird Park | 🇮🇩 Indonesia |
Likely
About 40% of wildlife watchers report a Little Black Cormorant sighting in Sydney on a given day, based on 7,263 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 21st most-seen of the 243 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 80%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
September–October and December–July
In those months about 40% of wildlife watchers report a Little Black Cormorant in Sydney on a given day, against about 30% in August and November, the lowest months.
Between 11 am and 2 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Little Black Cormorant sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
4th of 10
Of the 10 cities where we can rate Little Black Cormorant sightings, Sydney ranks 4th at about 40%. The best odds are in Denpasar (Indonesia, about 50%), Perth (Australia, about 40%) and Brisbane (Australia, about 40%).
Same genus: Phalacrocorax
The closest relatives of the Little Black Cormorant that you can see in Sydney (genus Phalacrocorax, Typical Old World Cormorants) are Australian Pied Cormorant (about 20%) and Great Cormorant (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Little Black Cormorant is recorded against all the birds logged in Sydney (7,263 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
