G’day,
Woorim is at the southeast corner of Bribie Island, some 70km north of Brisbane, and overlooks the northern part of Moreton Bay towards Moreton Island. Pied Cormorants are common in these parts; in fact, they are such a common sight that a birdwatcher could be forgiven for giving them just a glance whilst searching for more interesting seabirds (like NZ Storm Petrel!)
Today, close to Woorim, a Pied Cormorant was fishing just offshore – and it was fascinating to watch. The cormorant would dive and immediately afterwards an explosion of small fish would erupt from the water close to where the cormorant presumably then was. A few seconds later there would be a larger explosion of small fish together with the surfacing cormorant, and as the cormorant surfaced it would attempt to catch the “flying” fish. It was pretty good at it too, with a success rate of about 2 in 3, and sometimes the fish were caught some 10-15 cm above the surface of the water.
At no time did the cormorant surface with an already-captured fish so I assume that the cormorant was diving below the fish in order to force them up (and out) so that it could pick them off. Great fun to watch unless you are a small fish.
Cheers – Trevor Ford.
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