Double-crested Cormorant
Nannopterum auritum
Double-crested Cormorant · Prospect Park · 15 November 2025
A Double-crested Cormorant on Prospect Park Lake in November, a fish-eater of lakes, rivers and coasts across the whole continent, and a bird that has come back to New York harbour in numbers since the water was cleaned up.
A hooked, orange-based bill and dark, only faintly glossy plumage. Cormorants lack the oil-gland waterproofing most waterbirds rely on, which is why they are so often seen standing with wings spread out to dry. The wet plumage is deliberate: a bird that sits lower in the water dives more easily. The "double crest" is two tufts of feathers that appear for a few weeks in spring and are otherwise invisible.
Birds, insects, plants and other wildlife, mostly from Brooklyn, with some from further afield.
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