cormorant subspecies?

[squishy]

i spotted these two very odd cormorants today at the marsh

(apologies for the appalling photo quality, they were a very long way away, and the light was awful)






after looking around abit, i think they might have been the subspecies P. c. sinensis but that subspecies isn't meant to occur in the west of england, and is my books say it is only an occasional sight in the east

they were the same size, and were behaving the same way as all the other cormorants.

any suggestions?

[Jason Green]

What looks odd, do you mean the white patches? If so, it's the breeding plumage. I'll see if I can find a post on this very subject I made last year

Yep, we do get, I think spring, visits by the continental version, though it is only the south IMO.

...

EDIT: Here it is... Cormorant - discolouration?

[GuyF]

Unfortunately plumage isn't a reliable way of telling the two subspecies apart, it comes down to looking at the angle of the gular pouch, someone posted this link a while back which goes into detail on how to separate the two -
Cormorant subspecies identification

From your photo I can't quite see enough of the face to tell which of the sub species it is, although from reading around a bit the continental sinensis cormorants apparently tend to be quite a bit smaller than the British carbo cormorants, so as you say it was the same size as the other cormorants it's likely to be a British individual (assuming all the others were British birds!!)

Guy

[Jason Green]

...I take it the thing we're looking at here is the appearance of white feathering?

[squishy]

yes. that is way more then the breeding plumage. i spent ages surfing and that is not a 'normal' cormorant

[squishy]

Originally Posted by GuyF

Unfortunately plumage isn't a reliable way of telling the two subspecies apart, it comes down to looking at the angle of the gular pouch, someone posted this link a while back which goes into detail on how to separate the two -
Cormorant subspecies identification

From your photo I can't quite see enough of the face to tell which of the sub species it is, although from reading around a bit the continental sinensis cormorants apparently tend to be quite a bit smaller than the British carbo cormorants, so as you say it was the same size as the other cormorants it's likely to be a British individual (assuming all the others were British birds!!)

Guy

so you are with me that it isnt the 'normal' cormorant>?

[Jason Green]

Surfing? And what, the cormorants weren't put off? Oh, surfing as in... doesn't matter

I think it's a bog-standard British cormorant, have you seen the similar thread I posted Squish? That is one white cap he's wearing

From Solus in my related thread (hope you don't mind ):

This is an adult in early breeding or "courtship" plumage. The amount of white on the hindneck varies but may be much greater in the Continental race sinensis, which occurs in Britain, particularly in the south east

My related image:

[Dogghound]

Just abit of Leucism isnt it.

[squishy]

that was my first thought DH, but there were 2 exactly the same

jason: i'm a little confused. if you're right, why does every single bird book in my house disagree (i'm not saying you're wrong, but i cant find anything like that in my personal library )

[ChrisJB]

It looks like classic 'courtship' plumage to me.

Regards, Chris