CreatureData

Flightless cormorant

Nannopterum harrisi (Rothschild, 1898)

VUVulnerablebirds

The flightless cormorant (Nannopterum harrisi) is a species in the family Phalacrocoracidae, order Suliformes. Recorded adults weigh 2.7 kg to 3.59 kg and live up to 12.7 years. Its IUCN Red List status is Vulnerable.

Flightless cormorant (Nannopterum harrisi)
Photo: Lip Kee · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the flightless cormorant

Weight
2.7 kg – 3.59 kgsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
12.7 yearssrc for Lifespan
Diet
Aquatic predatorsrc for Diet
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
marinesrc for Habitat
Egg incubation
35 dayssrc for Egg incubation
Young per litter or clutch
2.5src for Young per litter or clutch
Age at maturity
16.7 monthssrc for Age at maturity
Litters or clutches a year
0.61src for Litters or clutches a year
Lifestyle
Aquaticsrc for Lifestyle
Migration
Sedentarysrc for Migration
Conservation status
Vulnerable (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
Not recorded

Where does the flightless cormorant live?

Not recorded

What is the flightless cormorant?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The flightless cormorant (Nannopterum harrisi), also known as the Galápagos cormorant, is a cormorant endemic to the Galápagos Islands, and an example of the highly unusual fauna there. It is unique in that it is the only known cormorant that has lost the ability to fly. It was placed in its own genus, Nannopterum, but was later placed with most of the other cormorants in the genus Phalacrocorax. A 2014 study supported reclassifying it and two other American cormorant species back into Nannopterum. The IOU followed this classification in 2021.

From the Wikipedia article “Flightless cormorant” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Flightless_cormorant&oldid=1366370505), 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 flightless cormorant endangered?

The flightless cormorant is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List: it faces a high risk of extinction in the wild.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Vulnerable species.

How is the flightless cormorant classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAves
  4. orderSuliformes
  5. familyPhalacrocoracidae
  6. genusNannopterum
  7. SpeciesNannopterum harrisi (Rothschild, 1898)

Synonyms Compsohaelius harrisi, Nannopteron harrisi, Nannopterum harrisi harrisi, Nannopterum harrisi harrisi, Phalacrocorax harrisi

Other names and names in other languages (48)
  • Galapagos cormorantEnglish
  • Galápagos cormorantEnglish
  • Galápagos flightless cormorantEnglish
  • غاقة غالاباغوسArabic
  • غاقة عاجزة عن الطيرانArabic
  • Безкрил корморанBulgarian
  • Morvran GalápagosBreton
  • corb marí de les GalápagosCatalan
  • kormorán galapážskýCzech
  • Mulfran y GalapagosWelsh
  • GalápagosskarvDanish
  • GalapagosscharbeGerman
  • GalápagosscharbeGerman
  • Nefluga kormoranoEsperanto
  • galapaga kormoranoEsperanto
  • Cormorán mancónSpanish
  • Cormorán de las GalápagosSpanish
  • Galápagose kormoranEstonian
  • galápagose kormoran (galápagose karbas)Estonian
  • باکلان ناپرPersian
  • galapagosinmerimetsoFinnish
  • galápagosinmerimetsoFinnish
  • Cormoran aptèreFrench
  • קורמורן גלאפגוסHebrew
  • galapagoski vranacCroatian
  • csököttszárnyú kárókatonaHungarian
  • Cormorano delle GalapagosItalian
  • Cormorano attero delle GalápagosItalian
  • ガラパゴスコバネウJapanese
  • ガラパゴスバネウJapanese
  • 갈라파고스가마우지Korean
  • Galapagos-KormoranLuxembourgish
  • galapaginis kormoranasLithuanian
  • Tábąąh zhį́ʼii doo naatʼáʼiiNavajo
  • GalápagosaalscholverDutch
  • galapagosskarvNorwegian
  • kormoran nielotnyPolish
  • biguá-das-galápagosPortuguese
  • Cormorão-das-GalápagosPortuguese
  • corvo-marinho-das-galápagosPortuguese
  • Галапагосский бакланRussian
  • Галапагосский нелетающий бакланRussian
  • kormorán nelietavýSlovak
  • Vranac neletačSerbian
  • Galapagos KarabatağıTurkish
  • баклан галапагоськийUkrainian
  • 弱翅鸬鹚Chinese
  • 難飛鸕鷀Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataIUCN Red List

Relatives of the flightless cormorant

Other species in the same genus Nannopterum.

CompareFlightless cormorant vs Double-crested cormorantFlightless cormorant vs Neotropic cormorant

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the flightless cormorant?

An adult flightless cormorant weighs 2.7 kg – 3.59 kg, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Is the flightless cormorant endangered?

The flightless cormorant is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, meaning it faces a high risk of extinction in the wild.

How long does the flightless cormorant live?

The flightless cormorant has a recorded lifespan of 12.7 years.

What kind of animal is the flightless cormorant?

The flightless cormorant (Nannopterum harrisi) 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.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Flightless cormorant (Nannopterum harrisi). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/flightless-cormorant

MLA

“Flightless cormorant (Nannopterum harrisi).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/flightless-cormorant.

BibTeX
@misc{flightless_cormorant_2026,
  title = {Flightless cormorant (Nannopterum harrisi)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/flightless-cormorant},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}