Family: PhalacrocoracidaeHabitat: Freshwater lakes, rivers, and swamps; also along seacoasts.
Distribution: Breeding range includes the Bering Sea, the Aleutian Islands, and southern Alaska; it also extends from southern British Columbia and northern Alberta east across northwestern and central Saskatchewan, central Manitoba, southern James Bay, and the north shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence to Newfoundland; and south (often in isolated colonies) to Baja California, south-central Arizona (and south into Mexico), southern New Mexico, west-central and southern Texas, the Gulf coast, and Florida. Generally winters from Mexico, Baja California, Texas, the Gulf states, and Florida north, along the Pacific coast, to east-central Washington; further east, winter range extends north to Oklahoma, the southern Great Lakes region, Lake Ontario, and New England (A.O.U. 1998).
Field Marks: Large, orange throat pouch is diagnostic.
Nest Habits: Breeds in colonies, where it builds its nest of twigs and grasses or weeds on a rocky surface or in a tree.
Eggs: 2-9, usually 3-4; 61 millimeter; pale blue or bluish-white in color.
Incubation: Both sexes incubate the eggs and care for the young. Incubation lasts approximately 25-29 days; young fledge when they are about 35-42 days old.
