Gould observed 'There is perhaps no group of birds so generally dispersed over the rocky sea-shores of the globe as the Cormorants...it frequents all the rocky sides of the coasts of England, Ireland and Scotland...[and] sometimes resorts to the lakes of the interior...where it may often be seen fishing their waters; and great is the destruction it effects among our freshwater fishes during such visits.'

In the illustration the male (foreground) is about two-thirds lifesize in spring plumage and the female is sitting behind.

DISTRIBUTION: Nearly cosmopolitan, though not South America, breeding range between about 72°N and 47°N. Partial migrant. In Britain recent regular counts show a progressive expansion of the population