Phalacrocorax fuscicollis
Silhouette: L. Shyamal · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~50%
The Indian cormorant or Indian shag (Phalacrocorax fuscicollis) is a member of the cormorant family. It is found mainly along the inland waters of the Indian subcontinent but extends west to Sind and east to Thailand and Cambodia. It is a gregarious species that can be easily distinguished from the similar sized little cormorant by its blue eyes, small head with a sloping forehead and a long narrow bill ending in a hooked tip.
The Indian cormorant was formally described in 1826 by English naturalist James Francis Stephens and given the current binomial name Phalacrocorax fuscicollis. The specific epithet combines the Latin fuscus meaning "dusky" or "brown" with the Modern Latin -collis meaning "-necked". The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.
A molecular phylogenetic study published in 2019 found that the Indian cormorant was sister to the little black cormorant. It is estimated that the two species split 2.5–3.2 million years ago during the late Pliocene. This medium-sized bronze brown cormorant is scalloped in black on the upper plumage, lacks a crest and has a small and slightly peaked head with a long narrow bill that ends in a hooked... Wikipedia →
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India · 2025
© Peter Boesman · XC1030757 · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Keoladeo National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 2 | Yala National Park | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka | |
| 3 | Wilpattu National Park | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka | |
| 4 | Udawalawe National Park | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka | |
| 5 | Minneriya National Park | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka | |
| 6 | Ranthambore National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 7 | Nagarhole National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 8 | Gir National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 9 | Satpura National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 10 | Periyar National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 11 | Bandipur National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 12 | Bandhavgarh National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 13 | Kanha National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 14 | Kaeng Krachan National Park | 🇹🇭 Thailand | |
| 15 | Khao Yai National Park | 🇹🇭 Thailand | |
| 16 | Sinharaja Forest Reserve | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Coimbatore | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 2 | Colombo [Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte] | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka | |
| 3 | Rajkot | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 4 | Ponnani | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 5 | Kollam | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 6 | Chennai | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 7 | Thiruvananthapuram | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 8 | Kochi | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 9 | Nagpur | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 10 | Kozhikode | 🇮🇳 India |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Khao Kheow Open Zoo | 🇹🇭 Thailand |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report an Indian Cormorant sighting in Periyar National Park on a given day, based on 207 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 115th most-seen of the 227 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.
March–July and October–January
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report an Indian Cormorant in Periyar National Park on a given day, against under 5% in February and August–September, the lowest months.
Between 3 and 6 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Indian Cormorant sightings with a recorded time, and about half of them come between 6 pm and 6 am: it is most active around dawn and dusk.
10th of 16
Of the 16 parks where we can rate Indian Cormorant sightings, Periyar National Park ranks 10th at about 10%. The best odds are in Keoladeo National Park (India, about 60%), Yala National Park (Sri Lanka, about 30%) and Wilpattu National Park (Sri Lanka, about 30%). All parks ranked.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Indian Cormorant is recorded against all the birds logged in Periyar National Park (207 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.
