Japanese Cormorant

Japanese Cormorant (Phalacrocorax capillatus) is a large black cormorant with white cheeks and throat, a partly yellow bill and a streamlined profile suited to underwater pursuit. 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 feeds chiefly on fish along rocky coasts and nearby marine waters; trained birds of this species have also long been used in Japan's traditional cormorant-fishing practice known as ukai. 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).