Order Pelecaniformes - pelicans, cormorants, gannets

Mount Desert Island is home to 5 species in 4 genera in 4 families. Click on a link below or scroll down for more information.

   Sulidae (1 genus, 1 species)
      Morus bassanus - northern gannet
   Pelicanidae (1 genus, 1 species)
      Pelicanus erythrorhynchos - American white pelican
   Phalacrocoracidae (1 genus, 2 species)
      Phalacrocorax auritus - double-crested cormorant
      Phalacrocorax carbo - great cormorant
   Fregatidae (1 genus, 1 species)
      Fregata magnificens - magnificent frigatebird

Phalacrocoracidae

Phalacrocorax (cormorant) - The two species of cormorants that live on Mount Desert Island or the adjacent ocean can be distinguished by the color of the throat pouch, the area flanking the base of the bill and also just below it. It is orange on the double-crested and yellow, bordered by white, on the great. The size difference—longer and with a thicker neck and heavier bill on the great —requires more familiarity with the two species.
   The Acadia National Park checklist indicates that the great cormorant can be seen year-round on MDI and that the double-crested cormorant is seasonal, present from mid-March through November and infrequently through December.

Phalacrocorax auritus (double-crested cormorant) is often seen on the Thrumcap, off the east side of Mount Desert Island between the Porcupine Islands and Schooner Head. This bird, however, was seen perched near the outflow of the mill pond in Somesville and, in this picture, swimming in the pond on 22 May 2010.

(click on image to enlarge)