74. The Great Cormorant

Is it a bird? Is it a snake? Is it a baby Loch Ness Monster? Actually it is a bird, and a big, black one at that. The Great Cormorant (M: Margun) is an aquatic species, a sleek and accomplished diver, which it has to be, since fish are its prey. It's a frequent sighting around Maltese shores and harbours at this time of the year, when many cormorants from northern Europe fly south to winter in the mild Mediterranean climate. However, very few places in Malta are safe for cormorants, as these protected birds are chased mercilessly by floating hunters on the prowl. One or two stragglers manage to make it to relative safety of Ghadira or Is-Simar nature reserve, where they can rest and spread their wings out to dry - literally!   

Text by Victor Falzon, photo by Denis Cachia.

Copyright to Birdlife Malta.