I checked Marnix’s cormorants this
morning. They were as below, roughly as he described.
A useful first resort for breeding info is
Steve Wilson’s book, which for this species states: ‘Breeding has
been recorded on the Molonglo
River above the lake, the
largest colony reported being 40 nests’. This seems such a large
number that one is inclined to wonder whether there was not some confusion with
Little Blacks, but there it is. Apparently on the basis of that entry,
the species is labeled ‘Common resident, breeding in suitable
habitat’ in the ACT checklist. The observation would need to have
been between 1999 (SW book) and 1992 when the ACT Atlas stated ‘’no
confirmed breeding records for the ACT’.
From: Marnix
Zwankhuizen [
Sent: Sunday, March 26, 2006 2:51
PM
To:
Subject: [canberrabirds] Great
Cormorant breeding
I was surprised today to see 2 Great Cormorants nesting on a small
pontoon in the main pond at Queanbeyan Sewage Ponds. Both sat quietly on
separate large nests made of sticks for the half hour I observed them. Is this
a first? Its the first time I have observed breeding in the ACT.
