Cormorant of Kairavini !!

With my little knowledge, I can distinguish between a Crow and a Pigeon and so, rely on Google image search ! – sometimes, it can throw entirely weird results too.   Phalacrocoracidae is a family of approximately 40 species of aquatic birds commonly known as Cormorants and shags.

சிறிய நீர்க்காகம் ( கரண்டம், அர்க்கம்)  என்றழைக்கப்படும் பறவை தெற்காசியாவில் இனப்பெருக்கம் செய்கின்றது. ஏறக்குறைய 20 அங்குலம் (53 செ.மீ) நீளமுடையது; ஆண், பெண் பறவைகள் ஒரே மாதிரி இருக்கும். உடல் முழுவதும் கருப்பாக, ஒருவித பச்சை நிற மினுமினுப்புடன் காணப்படும். தொண்டைப்பை பகுதியைச் சுற்றி வெண்ணிறத் திட்டு இருக்கும்.

Somewhere read this song :

See how the cormorant swoops and dives

Must be some thrill to go that deep

Down to the basement of this life

Down to where the mermaids gently sleep

 

So I dream of Columbus ~ Every time that the panic starts

I dream of columbus

With my maps and my beautiful charts; I dream of columbus

And there's peace in a traveling heart

 

The Indian cormorant or Indian shag (Phalacrocorax fuscicollis) is a member of the cormorant family. It is found mainly along the inland waters of the Indian Subcontinent but extends west to Sind and east to Thailand and Cambodia. It is a gregarious species - small head with a sloping forehead and a long narrow bill ending in a hooked tip.

The Indian cormorant was formally described in 1826 by English naturalist James Francis Stephens and given the current binomial name Phalacrocorax fuscicollis. The specific epithet combines the Latin fuscus meaning "dusky" or "brown" with the Modern Latin -collis meaning "-necked”. The Indian cormorant makes short dives to capture the fish.

Back in 1993 there was a movie by name ‘Cormorant’ with storyline of - when his uncle dies, John Talbot (Ralph Fiennes) inherits the Welsh beachfront home he had lived in. John; his wife, Mary (Helen Schlesinger); and their son, Tom (Thomas Williams), move to the isolated villa only to learn that the will also states that they must keep the uncle's pet Cormorant. Untamed and violent, the cormorant quickly places a strain on the couple's marriage as John develops an inexplicable obsession with the bird, which reminds him of his unsettling uncle (Karl Francis).

Here is a Cormorant pictured at Kairavini thirukkulam at Triplicane.

Regards – S Sampathkumar
5.6.2025