Phalacrocoracidae is a family of approximately 40 species of aquatic birds commonly known as cormorants and shags. Several different classifications of the family have been proposed, but in 2021 the International Ornithologists' Union (IOU) adopted a consensus taxonomy of seven genera. The great cormorant and the common shag are the only two species of the family commonly encountered in Britain and Ireland and "cormorant" and "shag" appellations have been later assigned to different species in the family somewhat haphazardly.
Cormorant
Great cormorant with hooked bill
Little cormorant with wings spread
Imperial shags in Beagle Channel
The great cormorant, known as the black shag or kawau in New Zealand, formerly also known as the great black cormorant across the Northern Hemisphere, the black cormorant in Australia, and the large cormorant in India, is a widespread member of the cormorant family of seabirds. The genus name is Latinised Ancient Greek, from φαλακρός and κόραξ, and carbo is Latin for "charcoal".
Great cormorant
Diving in Dambovita River, Bucharest
Great cormorant with bronze featherback at Keoladeo Ghana National Park, Bharatpur
Great cormorant trying to swallow bronze featherback at Keoladeo Ghana National Park, Bharatpur