Cormorant V Formation (1 Viewer)

[Killip]

Hi All,

I was out and about today and saw a sight I hadn't come across before. 9 large black birds flying in perfect V-formation and changing positions, as geese do. I was quite shocked to see they were cormorants.

Is this common flight behaviour for them?

This was in Derby city centre BTW around 4pm, so probably heading back to roost.

TY

 

[Nutcracker]

Yep, fairly common when they have any distance to travel.

 

[aeshna5]

Agree I've often seen this too.

 

[Jeff Hopkins]

They do fly in V's - not as organized as Canada Geese skeins but definitely more structured than snow geese flocks.

 

[Xenospiza]

Hi All,

I was out and about today and saw a sight I hadn't come across before. 9 large black birds flying in perfect V-formation and changing positions, as geese do. I was quite shocked to see they were cormorants.

Is this common flight behaviour for them?

This was in Derby city centre BTW around 4pm, so probably heading back to roost.

They will commonly fly in V-formation, but unlike geese, they regularly stop to hover in mid-air before reassembling and flying on (this looks quite funny). At great distances, this can be useful for telling them apart from geese.

 

[Killip]

Thanks all,

it was an odd site to see over the town. But a good one