These large black birds have long necks, long hooked bills, and webbed feet. Cormorants are excellent swimmers and divers, and they love to eat fish. On land, cormorants stand upright, often with their wings partially extended to dry. In the air, they fly in long lines or wedge-shaped formations.
Cormorants are common around the waters of North America.
The birds nest and feed on inland lakes and rivers as well as along ocean coasts. In past decades, cormorants almost disappeared from around the Great Lakes because of the effects of chemical pollution in the environment. But in the past 20 years, the Great Lakes cormorant population has bounced back due to environmental cleanup efforts. However, cormorants still show the effects of chemical contamination. Some birds are born with deformities like crooked bills or club feet, and scientists think that's due to lingering chemical pollution in the Great Lakes.