Phalacrocorax brasilianus
Silhouette: Jefry Saavedra-Gutiérrez · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~50%
The neotropic cormorant or olivaceous cormorant (Nannopterum brasilianum) is a medium-sized cormorant found throughout the American tropics and subtropics, from the middle Rio Grande and the Gulf and Californian coasts of the United States south through Mexico and Central America to southern South America, where it is called by the indigenous name of biguá. It also breeds in the Bahamas, Cuba, and Trinidad. It can be found both on coasts (including some mangrove areas) and in inland waters. In Peru, the neotropic cormorant is used by the Uru people for fishing.
The neotropic cormorant was documented in 1658 by the Dutch naturalist Willem Piso after travels in Brazil. This formed the basis for the formal description and naming of the species by Johann Friedrich Gmelin in 1789. He placed it with the petrels in the genus Procellaria and coined the binomial name Procellaria brasiliana. Many authors preferred to use Alexander von Humboldt's 1805 description of Pelecanus olivaceus because the identity of Piso's birds was considered uncertain. Later, ornithological... Wikipedia →
Recording0:10
United States · 2021
© jo12345 · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
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Peru · 2021
© Leo B · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
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Mexico · 2023
© medina_andrea_ico_3a · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Barranquilla | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 2 | León | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 3 | São Luís | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 4 | Mesa | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Buenos Aires | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 6 | Panama City | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 7 | Montevideo | 🇺🇾 Uruguay | |
| 8 | Santa Cruz de la Sierra | 🇧🇴 Bolivia | |
| 9 | Lima | 🇵🇪 Peru | |
| 10 | Vitória | 🇧🇷 Brazil |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Diego Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Abilene Zoological Gardens | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Zoológico de Brasília | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 4 | Parque Municipal Summit | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 5 | Temaikén | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 6 | Bioparque Municipal Vesty Pakos | 🇧🇴 Bolivia | |
| 7 | Ecopark | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 8 | Aviario Nacional de Colombia | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 9 | The Abilene Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | Mangal das Garças | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 11 | Parque Zoobotânico de Joinville | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 12 | Parque Zoobotânico Orquidário Municipal de Santos | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 13 | Zoológico del Parque de la Exposición | 🇵🇪 Peru |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Bigua cormorant sighting in Palo Verde National Park on a given day, based on 147 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 93rd most-seen of the 274 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.
June–October and December–March
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Bigua cormorant in Palo Verde National Park on a given day, against under 5% in April–May and November, the lowest months.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Bigua cormorant sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
36th of 77
Of the 77 parks where we can rate Bigua cormorant sightings, Palo Verde National Park ranks 36th at about 10%. The best odds are in Parque Estadual Encontro das Águas (Brazil, about 80%), Península Valdés (Argentina, about 80%) and Ría Lagartos Biosphere Reserve (Mexico, about 60%). All parks ranked.
Same order: Suliformes
The closest relatives of the Bigua cormorant that you can see in Palo Verde National Park (order Suliformes, Gannets, Cormorants, and Allies) are Anhinga (about 40%) and Magnificent Frigatebird (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Bigua cormorant is recorded against all the birds logged in Palo Verde National Park (147 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), 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.
