Pygmy Cormorant vs Spectacled Cormorant

Microcarbo pygmaeus compared with Urile perspicillatus

Side-by-Side Comparison

Attribute Pygmy Cormorant Spectacled Cormorant
Scientific Name Microcarbo pygmaeus Urile perspicillatus
Order Suliformes Suliformes
Family Phalacrocoracidae Phalacrocoracidae
Conservation Status Least Concern Extinct
Length
Wingspan 40.2 cm (15.8 in)
Weight 693.3333333333334 g (24.46 oz)
Diet -- --
Clutch Size 2-8 --
Population Trend

Habitat Comparison

Shared Habitats

Pygmy Cormorant only

Spectacled Cormorant only

None

Conservation Status

Least Concern

Pygmy Cormorant

Extinct

Spectacled Cormorant

About These Birds

Pygmy Cormorant

45–55 cm. Small; dark brown with chestnut head and neck in breeding; pale yellow throat. Resident across eastern Europe, Middle East, and Central Asia in freshwater lakes and rivers. Vulnerable; declining due to wetland degradation. Feeds on small fish by diving.

Spectacled Cormorant

Extinct; last recorded in 1850 on Bering Island. Very large; dark green-black with white spectacle marks. Flightless or near-flightless. Endemic to Bering Sea islands; exterminated within decades of discovery by Russian fur traders hunting for food. One of the few recently extinct cormorants.

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