Birds of North Carolina - their Distribution and Abundance

Scientific Name:	Common Name:		Family (Alpha):

PHALACROCORACIDAE Members:

Double-crested Cormorant 131

General Comments

Hardly any bird in North Carolina has increased in recent decades as dramatically as has the Double-crested Cormorant. Though it has been a common coastal bird for many decades, it has started to become very common at many of the reservoirs inland, where it used to be a rare bird and a good find. Despite hundreds of thousands (if not more) birds wintering along our coast, and despite it nesting at scattered locales from Florida to Canada, it is surprising that it has been found nesting at but a handful of sites (two in the Croatan National Forest) in the state. The highest counts on CBCs are often from North Carolina waters, especially in the vicinity of Hatteras and Ocracoke inlets, where sandbars and shallow waters can be blackened by thousands upon thousands of cormorants. They forage in all types of waters, from the inshore ocean, to shallow bays, to small tidal creeks, to reservoirs and impoundments; however, shallow bays and areas near inlets are favored. It nests mostly at lakes, where there are scattered live or dead trees well out into the lake, or on tall transformer towers; it also has nested a few times along the coast at tidal rivers and rarely at dredge spoil islands.

Only in the last few years (around 2021), the Double-crested and Neotropic cormorants were moved to a new genus, separate from the Great Cormorant, which retains the Phalacrocorax genus name; these smaller and New World species are now in the genus Nannopterum.

Breeding Status

Breeder

NC BRC List

Definitive

State Status

U.S. Status

Definitive

State Rank

S2B,S5N

Global Rank

Coastal Plain

Permanent resident, but breeding only at a few sites. Coastally, abundant during migration and locally abundant in winter (such as around Hatteras and Ocracoke inlets). Also abundant in the Tidewater zone. Numbers are lowest in midsummer, but the species is generally present year-round (non-breeding) in tidal areas. Far inland, fairly common to locally common, mostly in migration and winter, at lakes and ponds. Breeds at Lake Ellis Simon in Croatan National Forest; formerly nested at Great Lake, also in that forest. A notable breeding record came in 2012, when a few pairs were found nesting with Brown Pelicans on Wainwright Island (Carteret), a first state nesting in a tidal area. It has nested at Edenton (Chowan) in 2023-24, with about 100 birds on nests in a few trees. In 2024, at least 10 pairs nested on a dredge spoil island inside Oregon Inlet (Dare). Peak counts: 125,000, Hatteras Inlet, 2 Jan 1988. Inland: roughly 150 nests were at Great Lake, 1898 - 1911. The current nesting status is uncertain, as Lake Ellis Simon is privately owned and is not visible from public roads.

Piedmont

Migrant and winter resident, with some birds all summer, increasing as non-breeders; formerly bred at one site in the eastern counties, and formerly (or currently?) at a site in the central counties. Records for all months, but nested at Jordan Lake, with a peak nest count of 25, in 1991. Most or all nests of the birds at Jordan Lake are/were in dead trees, which over time fall into the lake; thus, there are fewer suitable trees for nesting with each passing year, and the nesting population there appears to be absent by 2020. In 2021, 80 birds were seen on nests on an island in Badin Lake (Stanly) on 19 Apr. In the cooler months, locally common to abundant at larger reservoirs, particularly at Falls and Jordan lakes; less common elsewhere, but still locally common at reservoirs. Peak counts of non-breeders: 5,000, Jordan Lake, 4 Jan 2025; 2,220, Falls Lake, 26 Mar 2004; 2,103, Jordan Lake CBC, 29 Dec 2002.

Mountain

Year-round visitor; known to be breeding at one site. Generally uncommon but increasing, in the southern mountains (mainly Buncombe, Henderson, and Transylvania); rare in the northern mountains; scattered records nearly all year, with a peak from May to Aug. Cormorants were observed nest building on a tall transformer at Lake Julian Park (Buncombe) in Mar 2021, and nesting has continued there through 2025; as many as 10 nests and 35 adults have been reported. Peak counts: ?

Finding Tips

None needed. Spectacular concentrations of 10,000 or more individuals can be seen in winter in Hatteras and Ocracoke inlets. Numbers into the thousands can be seen at other coastal spots, as well, in the winter.