Hello Birdie!
After spending the day on the boat whale watching, we decided to chill on the shore and have a picnic while bird watching. We found a group of black birds called pelagic cormorants who were quiet entertaining!
Date:1/23
Location: coast near the kelp forests
Pelagic Cormorant Fun Facts:
- Male and females look the same.
- They are not very efficient flyers, due to short wings.
- Those short wings help with diving for prey.
- Pelagic cormorants are also clumsy walkers on land.
- Unlike other water birds, cormorants do not have waterproof feathers. They must dry and preen them on shore.
- They do not nest in large colonies, but in small groups.
- Both male and females help incubate the eggs and raise the chicks.
We had a lovely afternoon watching the cormorants and the other shore birds. Pelicans are still our favorites with their big beaks. Having a healthy population of shore birds is often an indicator for healthy oceans. But like marine mammals, our shore bird friends suffer from ingesting plastic! So keep up the recycling and throw away that trash!
The Adventures of Ellie and Edmond 
What a name, Pelagic cormorants, wow!
I feel bad that they can’t fly well, nor walk well. Good thing they can dive, so they can eat.