Brandt's cormorant
Urile penicillatus (J. F. Brandt, 1837)
The brandt's cormorant (Urile penicillatus) is a species in the family Phalacrocoracidae, order Suliformes. Recorded adults weigh 1.93 kg to 2.57 kg and live up to 9.42 years. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.
Quick facts about the brandt's cormorant
- Weight
- 1.93 kg – 2.57 kgsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- 9.42 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Aquatic predatorsrc for Diet
- Longest recorded lifespan
- 18 years
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- marinesrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 30 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 3src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 2 yearssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 1src for Litters or clutches a year
- Lifestyle
- Aquaticsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Partialsrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Photos of the brandt's cormorant
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
Where does the brandt's cormorant live?
Not recorded
What is the brandt's cormorant?
Brandt's cormorant (Urile penicillatus) is a strictly marine bird of the cormorant family of seabirds that inhabits the Pacific coast of North America. It ranges, in the summer, from Alaska to the Gulf of California, but the population north of Vancouver Island migrates south during the winter. Its specific name, penicillatus is Latin for a painter's brush (pencil of hairs), in reference to white plumes on its neck and back during the early breeding season. The common name honors the German naturalist Johann Friedrich von Brandt of the Academy of Sciences at St. Petersburg, who described the species from specimens collected on expeditions to the Pacific during the early 19th century.
From the Wikipedia article “Brandt's cormorant” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Brandt%27s_cormorant&oldid=1376557197), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the brandt's cormorant endangered?
The brandt's cormorant is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species. What the categories mean.
How is the brandt's cormorant classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderSuliformes
- familyPhalacrocoracidae
- genusUrile
- SpeciesUrile penicillatus (J. F. Brandt, 1837)
Synonyms Carbo penicillatus, Compsohaelius penicillatus, Phalacrocorax penicillatus, Phalacrocorax townsendi
Other names and names in other languages (42)
- Brown cormorantEnglish
- Pencilled cormorantEnglish
- Townsend's cormorantEnglish
- Tufted cormorantEnglish
- غاق برانتArabic
- corb marí de BrandtCatalan
- kormorán západníCzech
- kormorán modrohrdlýCzech
- mulfran yddflasWelsh
- VestkystskarvDanish
- PinselscharbeGerman
- PinselkormoranGerman
- blugorĝa kormoranoEsperanto
- Cormoran sargentoSpanish
- Cormorán de BrandtSpanish
- Cormorán de BrandtSpanish
- Cormorán sargentoSpanish
- Sinikurk-kormoranEstonian
- sinikurk-kormoran (sinikurk-karbas)Estonian
- tyrskymerimetsoFinnish
- Cormoran de BrandtFrench
- plavogrli vranacCroatian
- Brandt-kárókatonaHungarian
- kaliforniai kárókatonaHungarian
- Cormorano di BrandtItalian
- アオノドヒメウJapanese
- Branto kormoranasLithuanian
- Branta ūdenisLatvian
- Brandts AalscholverDutch
- blåhakeskarvNorwegian
- kormoran modrogardłyPolish
- Biguá-sargentoPortuguese
- corvo-marinho-de-garganta-azulPortuguese
- Баклан БрандтаRussian
- Синегорлый бакланRussian
- kormorán krátkochvostýSlovak
- Brantov vranacSerbian
- blåstrupig skarvSwedish
- Brandt KarabatağıTurkish
- баклан синьогорлийUkrainian
- 加州鸬鹚Chinese
- 阿拉斯加鸕鷀Chinese
Relatives of the brandt's cormorant
Other species in the same genus Urile.
Pelagic cormorant
Urile pelagicus
Pallas's cormorant
Urile perspicillatus
Red-faced cormorant
Urile urile
CompareBrandt's cormorant vs Pelagic cormorantBrandt's cormorant vs Pallas's cormorantBrandt's cormorant vs Red-faced cormorant
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the brandt's cormorant?
An adult brandt's cormorant weighs 1.93 kg – 2.57 kg, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Is the brandt's cormorant endangered?
The brandt's cormorant is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.
How long does the brandt's cormorant live?
The brandt's cormorant has a recorded lifespan of 9.42 years.
What kind of animal is the brandt's cormorant?
The brandt's cormorant (Urile penicillatus) belongs to the family Phalacrocoracidae in the order Suliformes.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Brandt's cormorant (Urile penicillatus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/brandts-cormorant
“Brandt's cormorant (Urile penicillatus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/brandts-cormorant.
@misc{brandts_cormorant_2026,
title = {Brandt's cormorant (Urile penicillatus)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/brandts-cormorant},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}