Little cormorant
Microcarbo niger (Vieillot, 1817)
The little cormorant (Microcarbo niger) is a species in the family Phalacrocoracidae, order Suliformes. Recorded adults weigh 427 g to 434.8 g. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.
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Quick facts about the little cormorant
- Weight
- 427 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Wingspan
- 90 cmsrc for Wingspan
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Diet
- Aquatic predatorsrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- wetlandsrc for Habitat
- Young per litter or clutch
- Not recorded
- Lifestyle
- Aquaticsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Partialsrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
How big is the little cormorant?
Photos of the little cormorant
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Where does the little cormorant live?
Not recorded
What is the little cormorant?
The little cormorant (Microcarbo niger) is a member of the cormorant family of seabirds. Slightly smaller than the Indian cormorant it lacks a peaked head and has a shorter beak. It is widely distributed across the Indian subcontinent and extends east to Java, where it is sometimes called the Javanese cormorant. It forages singly or sometimes in loose groups in lowland freshwater bodies, including small ponds, large lakes, streams and sometimes coastal estuaries. Like other cormorants, it is often found perched on a waterside rock with its wings spread out after coming out of the water. The entire body is black in the breeding season but the plumage is brownish, and the throat has a small whitish patch in the non-breeding season. These birds breed gregariously in trees, often joining other waterbirds at heronries.
From the Wikipedia article “Little cormorant” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Little_cormorant&oldid=1369691544), 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 little cormorant endangered?
The little 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 little cormorant classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderSuliformes
- familyPhalacrocoracidae
- genusMicrocarbo
- SpeciesMicrocarbo niger (Vieillot, 1817)
Synonyms Carbo javanicus, Halietor niger, Hydrocorax niger, Phalacrocorax niger
Other names and names in other languages (60)
- غاق أسودArabic
- غاق صغيرArabic
- পানী কাউৰীAssamese
- ছোট পানকৌড়িBangla
- Corb Marí de JavaCatalan
- corb marí de VieillotCatalan
- kormorán menšíCzech
- Mulfran JafaWelsh
- JavaskarvDanish
- KleinscharbeGerman
- MohrenscharbeGerman
- eta kormoranoEsperanto
- Cormorán de JavaSpanish
- ida-kääbuskormoran (ida-kääbuskarbas)Estonian
- Ida-kääbuskormoranEstonian
- باکلان کوچکPersian
- jaavanmerimetsoFinnish
- Cormoran de VieillotFrench
- Broigheall beagIrish
- નાનો જળ કાગડોGujarati
- dugorepi vranacCroatian
- fekete törpekormoránHungarian
- Pecuk-padi kecilIndonesian
- Pacuk-Padi KecilIndonesian
- Cormorano minutoItalian
- Marangone minutoItalian
- アジアコビトウJapanese
- ನೀರು ಕಾಗೆKannada
- ಪುಟ್ಟ ನೀರುಕಗೆKannada
- ಪುಟ್ಟ ನೀರುಕಾಗೆKannada
- javinis kormoranasLithuanian
- mazais ūdenisLatvian
- ചെറിയ നീർക്കാക്കMalayalam
- ചെറിയ നീര്ക്കാക്കMalayalam
- छोटा पाणकावळाMarathi
- लहान पाणकावळाMarathi
- Burung Dendang KecilMalay
- အော်ယောငှက်Burmese
- सानो जलेवाNepali
- Indische DwergaalscholverDutch
- orientdvergskarvNorwegian
- kormoran skromnyPolish
- نکا کورمینٹWestern Panjabi
- biguá-pequenoPortuguese
- corvo-marinho-javanêsPortuguese
- corvo-marinho-pequeno-orientalPortuguese
- Яванский бакланRussian
- පුංචි දියකාවාSinhala
- kormorán močiarnySlovak
- јавански корморанSerbian
- Indijski mali vranacSerbian
- småskarvSwedish
- சின்ன நீர்க்காகம்Tamil
- นกกาน้ำเล็กThai
- Kara Küçük KarabatakTurkish
- баклан яванськийUkrainian
- Cốc đenVietnamese
- 黑頸鸕鶿Chinese
- 黑頸鸕鷀〔小鸕鷀〕Chinese
- 黑颈鸬鹚Chinese
Relatives of the little cormorant
Other species in the same genus Microcarbo.
Pygmy cormorant
Microcarbo pygmaeus
Reed cormorant
Microcarbo africanus
Little pied cormorant
Microcarbo melanoleucos
Crowned cormorant
Microcarbo coronatus
CompareLittle cormorant vs Pygmy cormorantLittle cormorant vs Reed cormorantLittle cormorant vs Little pied cormorantLittle cormorant vs Crowned cormorant
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the little cormorant?
An adult little cormorant weighs 427 g and has a wingspan of 90 cm, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Is the little cormorant endangered?
The little cormorant is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.
What kind of animal is the little cormorant?
The little cormorant (Microcarbo niger) 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). Little cormorant (Microcarbo niger). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/little-cormorant
“Little cormorant (Microcarbo niger).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/little-cormorant.
@misc{little_cormorant_2026,
title = {Little cormorant (Microcarbo niger)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/little-cormorant},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}