Brandt's Cormorant vs European Shag

Brandt's Cormorant

Urile penicillatus

Huge2.2 kgMarine

The average size of a Brandt's cormorant is 4.6 pounds. They have a length of about 34 inches and their wingspan is 4 feet. During the breeding season, adults have a blue throat patch.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: verygreen · CC BY 2.0

European Shag

Gulosus aristotelis

Huge1.8 kgMarine

This is a medium-large black bird, 68 to 78 cm (27 to 31 in) long and with a 95-to-110-centimetre (37 to 43 in) wingspan. It has a longish tail and a yellow throat patch. Adults have a small crest in the breeding season. It is distinguished from the great cormorant by its smaller size, lighter build, thinner bill, and, in breeding adults, by the crest and metallic green-tinged sheen on the feathers. Among those differences are that a shag is smaller and has a lighter, narrower beak, and the juvenile shag has darker underparts.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: (c) Tony, some rights reserved (CC BY) · cc-by

Photos and recordings are credited to their authors under the licence shown. Full profiles: Brandt's Cormorant and European Shag.