Nannopterum auritum
Lakes, rivers, and coasts across most of the continent. Totipalmate track: all four toes webbed, including the rear toe.
What does a double-crested cormorant look like?
Black waterbird with an orange face, often drying its wings.
What do double-crested cormorant tracks look like?
A large webbed print with the rear toe included in the web. That full web splits it from a duck or a goose.
- Totipalmate track: all four toes webbed, including the rear toe
- Track about 4 to 5 inches if it walks on mud
- Often stands with wings open
- Black body, orange face
- Whitewash on a dock or a dead tree
What does double-crested cormorant poop look like?
Heavy whitewash on docks, channel markers, and roost trees. Do not handle droppings. Several species carry parasites that stay in the soil around a latrine.
Where you find it
Lakes, rivers, and coasts across most of the continent. Typical places: wetland. Year-round in much of the range. Some move south for winter.
What to do next
- Watch from a distance
- Do not approach a nest
- If a bird is injured, call a local wildlife rehabilitator
This page is a field guide, not a permit to approach wildlife. If an animal is injured, aggressive, or inside a house, call a local wildlife officer.
Animals it is confused with
- Canada goose identification
- Mallard identification
- All animal identification pages
- Identify an animal from a photo, track, or description
What do cormorant tracks look like?
A large webbed print with webbing that includes the rear toe.
How to tell a double-crested cormorant from similar animals
Use the track, the dropping, and the place together. One print is not enough.
- Canada goose. Webbed, pigeon-toed, in a line from water to grass. Brown goose, black neck, white cheek patch.
- Mallard. A small webbed print. Male has a green head and chestnut chest.
Double-crested cormorant field marks
- Totipalmate track: all four toes webbed, including the rear toe
- Track about 4 to 5 inches if it walks on mud
- Often stands with wings open
- Black body, orange face
Where the sign shows up
Lakes, rivers, and coasts across most of the continent. Typical places: wetland. Year-round in much of the range. Some move south for winter.
A large webbed print with the rear toe included in the web. That full web splits it from a duck or a goose. Heavy whitewash on docks, channel markers, and roost trees.
Common questions
What do cormorant tracks look like?
A large webbed print with webbing that includes the rear toe.