Many of the bird lovers these days try to make an assessment on certain avian species with help from the internet where other experts have expressed their verdicts.
In the case of ‘Anhinga vs Cormorant’, it’s a commonly searched phrase which is the resultant of a desire of finding key differences between the two birds.
But there exists one misconception: Cormorant isn’t a bird, rather it’s a family of birds while Anhinga is an actual species.
It translates into the fact that such comparison is an uneven one and won’t bear much fruit in your cause.
That’s why I’ve selected Great Cormorant, the most common and benchmark species of the Cormorant family, to go head to head against Anhinga.
Only a comparison as such will be able to teach you what you’ve been searching for.
Contents
Basic Descriptions for Anhinga & Cormorant
The very basics of Cormorant vs Anhinga begins here with some information because I believe learning a little about these species individually is beneficial for further differentiation.
Anhinga
Source: @birdsbycarolyn
- Species Name: Anhinga anhinga
- Size: 75 to 95 cm (30 to 37 in)
- Locality: South America, parts of Central and North America
- Status: Least Concern
- Breeding Season: February
Anhinga goes by many names in the local mouths, some refer to them as ‘snakebirds’ while others simplify the name down to ‘water turkey’. In actuality, these are American darters who share resemblances with their Indian and Australian cousin species. But the most authentic species Anhinga Anhinga is one of a kind, gracing its presence around parts of the Americas.
Great Cormorant
Source: @didier1960
- Species Name: Phalacrocorax carbo
- Size: 70 to 102 cm (27.5 to 40 in)
- Locality: Shores and coasts across the world
- Status: Least Concern
- Breeding Season: August to January
Cormorant is basically a seabird family whose species are spreaded across the world in both Northern and Southern Hemisphere. The family name shares the taxonomy with the genus “pharaco”, translating from Ancient Latin to English as “bald” because of the lack of feather on the scalp. Color variations are acknowledged across species that flaunt white patches on mostly the abdomen region.
Anhinga or Cormorant? Identification Variation
There exist some stark differences between the Anhinga vs Cormorant identification process. These variations are divided into three categories of shape, color and beak type to make your assessment clearer!
- Shape: The two birds in question are much similar when it comes to their body shapes. Only a keen pair of eyes can pick up the small details that are important to address. A thick body placing a long neck over the top and duck-like flaps for feet requires wide wings to carry the weight during a full flight.
Anhinga’s neck is slightly more curved due to some additional length as opposed to Cormorant. Also, you’ll notice crests at the back of their heads and they are different in colors. Cormorant carries black crests with white tips, while Anhinga’s crests are usually golden toned.
Female Anhingas are easier to identify because of their naked neck upon black feathers. Cormorants don’t have such a distinction between the male and female birds.
- Color: Anhinga is basically a white wing-striped black bird as opposed to the golden accents on Cormorant. At a full stretch of the wings, Anhinga shows large patches of whites underneath that are absent in the other bird. Even Anhinga’s tails are accented with a golden tone, an additional feature for the perfect identification!
If you look at the abdomen region, Cormorant shows more of an arid sight with whited out feathers. Anhinga belly feathers are solid and fully black like the rest of their body.
- Beak: Beaks stand as one of the vital signs to separate between these species and it has much to do with their hunting styles. Anhinga beaks are sharp and pointy, on the other hand, Cormorants have a more rounded pair of bills.
Faded orange is the common color for both of their beaks, but Cormorant has a higher concentration of the color around the base. If you manage to remember the beak shapes, identifying them in nature should never cause you a headache!
Cormorants vs. Anhingas: Finding the Differences
If you think about it, the differences between these birds are quite apparent when seen from the right perspective. It’s time for us to reinforce that!
Source: @birdlife_malta
Locality
The Anhinga localities are strictly restricted within the Americas, starting around the eastern coasts of the USA, including the state of Florida. It then encompasses Central American countries and a large portion of South America. Mostly coastal regions are their preferred habitable zone and a taste for temperate areas with sufficient sunshine is observed.
On the other hand, Great Cormorants are found all across the world but the concentrations consist of ocean coasts, rivers and freshwater lakes. Their habitation zones are divided into major breeding and non-breeding territories. In-betweens are the permanent resident areas and passage localities during migration.
Source: @lmc_currycreationstoo
Hunting
As I’ve already discussed the differences in the nature of the beaks for the Anhinga vs Cormorant debate, it has significant operational distinctions. Anhinga’s sharper beaks allow them to hunt like a torpedo, penetrating through fishes like spears before collecting them and swallowing afterward. Big fishes are killed with constant stabs and consumed thereafter.
For Cormorants, they use their rounded bills to pick up fishes of different sizes. Not all sizes of fishes are directly swallowed by them because of their narrow throat. The shape selection is important for them, thus torpedo shaped fishes are preferred over wider ones.
Competition with Humans
Great Cormorants are a huge consumer of marine fisheries, so much that even fishermen of the areas would lose out to them had it been a contest. That’s one of the many reasons Cormorants had been massively hunted down by the locals and it’s even been licensed in some countries, limited to particular numbers.
Many fishermen transgress this number boundary and end up killing extra. That is, however, illegal in many places and is punishable by law. Anhingas don’t cause such a threat and aren’t killed due to reasons like this. They’re protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 in America.
Game Bird Tag
The term ‘game bird’ suggests that a bird is shot either for fun or to be eaten as food. Shooting down Cormorants in Norway is practiced as the latter one, counting the death toll up to 10,000 each year. Anhingas don’t entertain any locals this way, and even if it is, this doesn’t reach the government or the media to be highlighted enough due to restrictions that can lead to penalties.
Human Captivity
Cormorants are used by human beings in certain local territories for hunting fishes. A noose is tied to their neck and they’re allowed to catch fishes from the water. Since they tend to swallow the fish as a whole, the noose keeps it from taking that in completely.
It’s then pulled back and the fish is retrieved by the captors. This is an inhumane procedure that should never be accepted, and local awareness as well as legal jurisdictions are required to diminish such practices. Anhingas are never utilized in such a way due to their stabbing technique of fish-hunting.
Source: @barryedleman
Symbolism
Anhinga is a black bird connoting different symbolic interpretations. But these meanings are strictly restricted to their habitat zones and are generalized to some extent due to their black feather color.
Cormorants on the other hand are held semi-sacred in parts of Northern Norway. There’s a common belief that people who die during a voyage never find their way back home with their bodies. In such cases, their spirits take the shape of a Cormorant and return to their villages. Also, Cormorants’ gathering in human settlements imply good fortune for the people.
Hearing Abilities
A rare case of ‘albinism’ occurs in Cormorants that render them incapable of hearing clearly. Otherwise, the common population has generated an enhanced hearing ability underwater which aids them in detecting fishes. Anhingas show no such enhancement or reduction of hearing prowess and it’s quite regular in bird standards.
Diet
In terms of eating habits, Anhingas pretty much eat anything found on the ocean. Ranging between smaller to larger fishes, their taste bud transitions to amphibians, insects and invertebrates. These white-winged black birds grab their fishes, rise over water and flick them in the air before swallowing directly.
If you investigate Cormorant food habits, my previous fact statement would be made apparent that they have a knack for torpedo-shaped fishes. Other than wrasses or sand smelts, some wider fishes like common soles or flatheads too are consumed by the species on a regular basis.
Vocalization
The sounds that these species make are different in pitch and frequency. Cormorants are usually silent. Only time they create any noise is when they’re at breeding colonies, setting up nests and calling for mating.
Anhingas make sounds at a similar phase, especially when exchanging nests. Both the male and female birds are capable of producing calling noises. Their calls are mostly clicking sounds that are quite loud and audible from quite a distance.
For your convenience of recognition, their callings can be played right here!
Cormorant Sound
Anhinga Sound
There’s a reason for so many confusions between Anhinga and Cormorant, most of which sprouted from their uncanny resemblances. Let’s discuss them as well so that you don’t get deceived in the wilderness.
Order
Both of Anhinga & Cormorant are Suliformes, an order divided into four families. The former belongs to Anhingidae, a family dedicated to darters like this one. For the latter, Phalacrocoracidae translates into a generic Cormorant family, of which all of the species share a lot of similarities.
So, the resemblance here is that both of these birds are ideal representatives of their family name, which is quite rare in the study of birds.
Source: @jorgebracerophotograph
Breeding
When it comes to breeding practices, Cormorant vs Anhinga argument reaches a halt. Because these two species pick similar localities for mating, nesting and laying eggs. Even though their distribution areas are dispersed and only parts of the USA are the shared zones, breeding territories are in the form of colonies placed on ocean shores, riverbanks or lakeside sands.
Size
Sizewise, these birds are quite identical, three feet on average. However, size discrepancy within the same species is wider for Cormorants than for Anhingas. Differences of sizes based on subspecies exist for both of these birds, Anhingas go a little bit extra with sexual dimorphism in this regard.
Flight Animation
Flight animations on these birds are quite similar due to their weight and extensive time spent on water. As they don’t have water resistant feathers, most of the water follicles are absorbed that tend to weigh down their body. It renders instant flying almost impossible.
That’s why Anhingas have to take a certain time on the ground to run and flap their wings before reaching a full flight. For this reason, many call them Anhingas water turkeys who move in the same manner when they try to fly. It’s a major similarity they share with Cormorants as well.
A table holding all the major differences should stand as a revision to all the facts that I just elaborated on that should seal the Anhinga vs Cormorant variations firmly.
| Category | Anhinga | Great Cormorant |
| Crest | Golden | Black with white tips |
| Color Accent | White | Golden |
| Beak Shape | Pointed | Blunt |
| Locality | The Americas | Across the world |
| Hunting Style | Piercing through fishes | Grab and swallow |
| Game Bird Tag | No | Yes |
| Symbolism | Generic with other black birds | In North Norway as semi-sacred |
| Diet | Fish, insects, amphibians | Torpedo-shaped fishes |
Thoughts
The Cormorant vs Anhinga debacle is full of surprises, infused with many unknown facts that are crucial for getting insight on each of the species separately.
From the colors to their behaviors, there are ways to find clarity if you have the right approach and precise knowledge that only experts have been aware of.
Other species of Cormorants are pretty much similar in physicality, only their habitats are slightly different and behaviors minutely vary from one another.
Based on the knowledge presented in this article and drawing from the difference table at the end, I hope you can now see them as unique bird species without any confusion!
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Audio Credits: xeno-canto
