Red-legged Cormorant

Possesses a highly striking and elegant morphology that immediately distinguishes it from other representatives of its family. This taxon reaches an overall body length of 70 to 76 centimeters, featuring a predominantly smoky-gray to silver-gray plumage on its back and flanks, which creates a spectacular contrast with a distinctive, bright pure white patch located on the sides of its neck. The head is adorned with delicate grayish tones, ending in a long, slender bill of a greenish-yellow hue that becomes intensely orange-red at its base and gape. The most remarkable anatomical feature, from which its common name is derived, is the vivid coral-red color of its webbed legs and feet, providing a highly diagnostic and vibrant identification mark in adult individuals. Its eyes feature a unique emerald-green to blue-gray iris. Sexual dimorphism is not highly pronounced regarding plumage coloration, although males tend to be slightly larger than females. Juvenile individuals are easily distinguished by their overall ash-brown plumage, completely lacking the brilliant red of the legs and the white cervical patch, which are gradually acquired as they approach sexual maturity.

Geographical distribution: Occurs primarily along the cold, nutrient-rich waters of the Humboldt Current along the Pacific coast of South America. Its northernmost breeding range begins in northern Peru, around the Lobos de Tierra Island, extending continuously southward along the entire coast of Chile, down to the Chiloé archipelago and occasionally reaching the fjords of the Magallanes region. Additionally, a distinct and biologically significant isolated population persists on the southern Atlantic coast, specifically in the Santa Cruz province of Argentina, with notable concentrations around the Deseada estuary and nearby areas of the San Jorge Gulf, showcasing an intriguing disjunct distribution pattern for this marine specialist.

Habitat: Restricts its activities almost exclusively to coastal marine environments, exhibiting a strong preference for steep, rugged rocky coastlines, towering marine cliffs, offshore islets, and wave-exposed sea caves. Unlike many sympatric cormorants, it actively avoids flat sandy beaches and shallow mudflats or enclosed estuaries. It relies heavily on inaccessible vertical rock faces and steep ledges that provide safe roosting and nesting sites protected from terrestrial predators. It is highly adapted to foraging in deep, cold coastal waters influenced by marine upwelling systems.

Feeding: Maintains a carnivorous diet focused on benthic and small pelagic organisms, acting as an opportunistic coastal predator. It preys on a wide variety of small fish that inhabit kelp forests and subtidal rocky zones, including silversides, anchovies, and various species of blennies. It significantly supplements its diet with a high proportion of marine invertebrates, particularly decapod crustaceans like shrimp and squat lobsters, as well as small cephalopods, which it captures with extreme agility during dives propelled solely by its strong webbed feet.

Behavior: Tends to be significantly less gregarious than other coastal seabirds sharing its range, typically foraging individually or in pairs rather than forming large, cooperative multi-species feeding flocks. It is an exceptional diver, plunging from the water´s surface to perform underwater pursuits that last several seconds at moderate depths. Upon returning to land, it selects narrow ledges on vertical cliffs to rest and perform its typical wing-drying posture, although its feathers exhibit superior water-shedding properties compared to other cormorants. Its flight is fast, direct, and performed at a very low altitude just above the ocean waves.

Nesting: Occurs in colonial arrangements, although these colonies are characteristically small and loose, ranging from a few pairs to several dozen individuals. The nest sites are highly specific, chosen on steep vertical cliff faces, deep crevices, and inaccessible rock ledges overhanging the sea. The nest is a robust, cup-shaped structure meticulously built using fresh and dry marine algae, halophytic vegetation, feathers, and marine debris, all cemented to the sheer rock surface with its own guano. Females typically lay a clutch of 2 to 4 chalky, bluish-white eggs. Both parents share incubation duties and actively participate in feeding the altricial chicks through regurgitation.

Conservation status: Listed currently as Near Threatened (NT) on the global Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Principal threats impacting its populations include coastal habitat degradation from industrial and port development, human disturbance at breeding colonies, unregulated guano harvesting, and incidental mortality due to entanglement in gillnets from artisanal fisheries. Furthermore, intense climatic anomalies such as El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events cause severe crashes in prey availability, posing a critical threat to northern populations.