Kormorane is the biggest family of the Rudder-footwith 29-31 types. The oldest fossil-findings are approximately 50 million years old. This lives in "flock-Ben", (presumably originated from "sea-ravens") as Kormorane are also named, the Meeresküsten, river and shores of the whole world; they are missing only on some Pacific islands and in very cold polar coast-regions.
Nutrition All Kormorane carry swimming off its food - almost exclusively fish - and dives, more powerfully with what its and long, on the upper end hakig turned beak good gripping-tools represents. The edges of the horn-beak carry a fine Zähnelung, the outer nose-openings healed. Some Kormoranarten organize community-hunts, with what downright "marksperson-lines" often surround the fish and drive together.
Swims and diving Kormorane lie deeply when swimming in the water; only few pneumatisierten (with airspaces filled) bones is this because of this on the one hand and to the other at the water-permeability of the plumage. In contrast to most other waterfowls, the most air escapes from the plumage of the Kormorane when diving so that its buoyancy is reduced strongly and the birds can swim nimbly under water in that they row with both feet simultaneously. It is steered with the quite long tail, the wings hold Kormorane easily bent when diving. After the fishing, these birds don't remain long on the water but goes on the dry and earns an attitude typical for Kormorane, if they extend the wings to drying.
With exception the about 1850 extinct ones, 3,5 kg of heavy Brillenkormorans (Phalacrocorax perspicillatus) of the Behringinseln, that could fly only heavily and were very trustful, as well as all Kormorane are the unairworthy Stummelkormorans (Phalacrocorax harrisi) of the Galapagos-Inseln good planes, some northern types undertake hikes. In the flight, they extend the neck exactly and frequently move in V-Formation.
Reproduction According to habitat, Kormorane erect its nests on the ground, on rock-ledges as well as in treetops or bushes. At the coast, the ground-nest consists of loosely accumulated seaweed while the tree-nests are quite extensive eyries in the inland from carefully ordered branches and branches with soft padded Nistmulde.
They flock-Ben usually brood in larger colonies, that can assume with southern types gigantic sizes. The nest of Kormoranen consists of 3-6 light-blue eggs, that are equipped with a white, chalk-good lime-coating, normally. The newly slipped nestlings, who become erbrütet from both alto-birds for 3-5 weeks, are completely bare and blind; they are fed with high-choked food by the parents directly into the beak. Later, the boys train a dense brownish or blackish Dunenkleid and get its food independently for itself from the pharynx of the alto-birds. After 5-10 weeks, young Kormorane finally become completely independent.
Shape Both sexes don't differ of each other in the plumage; male Kormorane usually become somewhat bigger than female animals. The northern types of the family are mainly gloomily colored (frequently with metallic shine), only at head and throat, shining-colorful main-parts take off notably from the plumage often. Some Kormoranarten of the southern hemisphere against it have light undersides. Kormorane train white jewelry-feathers, that - according to type deceased - can be concentrated at certain body-places or also lie loosely scattered in the entire plumage, in the brood-dress.
Trained Kormorane Several Asian and African people trained (among them also the Kormoran living in Europe Phalacrocorax carbo as well as the bigger Japankormoran, Phalacrocorax capillatus, from Japan and Korea) different Kormoranarten to the haul; the tame birds are carried along on boats at night. From there, they pounce on fish, who were lured by light fires to the boats previously. As soon as the birds now carried off a fish, one moves it again into the boat with help of a rope at the leg. A narrow ring about the neck of the Kormorans prevents that this swallows the fish to the "own-utilization." Only on the end of the foray, the birds with a loot-share are "paid off." In Japan, one upholds this old method of the haul as custom-hood and demonstrates it from time to time as spectator-attraction. In other areas of the earth, it is fished also with daylight with Kormoranen.
Guano-birds By far more important than with the haul is Kormorane as suppliers of large quantities of the valuable guano, who are processed to fertilizer. Particularly at South America's (Peru, Chile) West coast, gigantic brood-colonies of the 75 cm long Guanokormorane (Phalacrocorax bougainvillii) exist the coast before Argentina as well as before the southwestern Africa as well as. Kapkormorane (Phalacrocorax capensis), whose excrement formed many meters thick layers in the course of the time. Before South America, the "guano-birds" of gigantic sardine-swarms, that are the Endglieder of a long foodchain in turn, whose basis is an immense plankton-wealth, live. Because before the continental shelves of South America and Africa, mineral-rich depth-waters ascend to the surface, where it itself with the oxygen-hands upper water-layers mixes and delivers the vegetable plankton ideal growth-conditions so.
As a guano-supplier, Kormorane are protected; special walls hold carnivore artificial islands as hatcheries been erected in South America from, while before Africa's coasts. In Japan, one catches the excrement of tree-brooding Kormoranarten in that one extends straw under the Nistbäumen.
Actual Kormoran New Zealand broods the 90-92 cm big Kormoran (Phalacrocorax carbo) in North America's northeast, at Greenland's coasts, on Iceland, the British islands, on the Eurasian continent of north and southeast-Europe until Japan, on New Guinea, as well as in wide sharing of Australia (including Tasmania) and Africa. In the German area along the east and North Sea*-coast, Kormorane nested once, became already in the 19, however. Century as fishery-pests stinted or expelled. Today, the Kormoran is on the red list of the types threatened by the extinction with us. The biggest Central European brood-occurrences exist at the Dutch coast still today.
Train In the winter moves into the Mediterranean-area (as far as to North-Africa) the most Kormorane Central Europe, however, some Dutch brood-birds cancel only short routes southeastward.
Brood The brood-period begins end of March in more southern areas approximately, northern populations start with the brood-business until June. Both partners erbrüten for 28-29 days you from 3 - 4 eggs existing nest. The eyes of the nest-stools open in the age of 5 days, its dense, dark brown Dunenkleid sprouts within the first life-week. Both alto-birds take care of its boys, with what they here-carry also water in very hot weather in the plumage, in order to refresh the nestlings.
After 50-60 days, Kormorane become fully-fledged, but only with 11-12 weeks, they then are independent. its sexually mature attain Kormorane with 3 - 4 years, probably brood-partners remain only one season long together. The eldest wild Kormoran (rang) was shot in the age of 18,5 years. Krähenscharbe, Ohrenscharbe, Zwergscharbe.
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