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Phalacrocorax auritus
Immature double-crested cormorant spotted in Cherrywood Park in Dallas, TX, after record rainfall over several weeks had saturated ground and shallow pools of water had formed park-wide, attracting water fowl.
Spotted on Apr 24, 2015
Submitted on Jun 21, 2015
3 Comments
What did you use to ID the bird? Some resources are certainly better than others. Overall shape and stature tells you it is a large water bird which a cormorant fits into, but there are several differences between cormorants and night herons. A big difference between them is head shape. Cormorants have a longer, slimmer head, and night herons have a short, chunky head. Both have a thick bill, but the night herons have a much thicker bill that tapers at the end. Cormorants have a much longer tail. This is an immature night heron, and it's hard to tell which one from the distance, but I would say black-crowned
Is it really Ashley? Is there any way for me to change it? <this was the first time in my life (and I'm 44) to try identifying a bird I'd taken a pic of.>. So what characteristics did you figure it out with?
Hi Brent, you just uploaded this photo as an unknown spotting, did you mean to upload it again? Because it is not a cormorant at all, it is a night heron.