The little cormorant, a member of the cormorant family of seabirds, is an all-season bird categorised as a very common resident bird in Chandigarh. Always found near lakes, rivers and marshes in abundant numbers, the bird is identical to other cormorants with its steep forehead and whitish chin during the non-breeding season.
With an overall size of 50 cm, male and female little cormorants look quite alike. The entire body is black during the breeding season – from September to February, depending on the rain – but the plumage is brownish in colour. In the non-breeding season, however, the bird’s throat develops a small whitish patch.
Usually found alone on trees near water bodies, little cormorants tend to forage mainly in small, loose groups, feasting on small fish found in waters that are less than a metre deep. Sukhna Lake, Dhans Lake, Ghaggar river, Kaushalya Dam, the Mote Majra pond and almost all ponds in the Inter-State Chandigarh Region (ISCR) are perfect sites for observing this bird, which is one of the species marked to be of least concern as per the International Union for Conservation Nature (IUCN).
Like other members of the cormorant family, the little cormorants too love to spread their wings and flap about in the water. In winter, they stay motionless while spreading their wings out. Probably the best time to capture this bird on camera is when it perches on a piece of wood placed by the forest department in the middle of a water body or at the edges.
