Great Cormorant

Great Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo) is a large black waterbird with a heavy hooked bill, white throat and cheek areas, and yellow facial skin. Body shape, bill structure, plumage pattern and voice provide the strongest field characters. Age, sex and season may alter its appearance, so identification should combine several features and careful direct field comparisons with similar species in the same habitat (Wikipedia, general species account).

It dives from the surface to catch fish in coastal waters, rivers and lakes, often resting upright with its wings spread and breeding colonially on cliffs, trees or artificial structures. Its movements and social behaviour vary through the year, with breeding birds generally more dispersed and non-breeding birds gathering where food is concentrated. Japanese records place it within the country's documented avifauna as a resident, migrant or visitor (Wikipedia, general species account; Wildlife of Japan occurrence records).