---
title: "Little Black Cormorant"
description: "Phalacrocorax sulcirostris — Birds. The little black cormorant (Phalacrocorax sulcirostris) is a member of the cormorant family of seabirds."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/animal/little-black-cormorant
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Little Black Cormorant

> Phalacrocorax sulcirostris — Birds. The little black cormorant (Phalacrocorax sulcirostris) is a member of the cormorant family of seabirds.

- Scientific name: *Phalacrocorax sulcirostris*
- Category: `birds` (Birds)
- Habitats: `freshwater` (Lakes & rivers)
- iNaturalist observations: 17173
- Wikidata: [Q529123](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q529123)
- iNaturalist taxon: [4273](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/4273)

## Names

- en: Little Black Cormorant
- de: Schwarzscharbe
- es: Cormorán totinegro
- fr: Cormoran noir
- nl: Zwarte aalscholver
- pt: Biguazinho-preto
- pl: Kormoran bruzdodzioby

## Countries with the most observations

AU (15124), NZ (1036), ID (334), TL (45), NC (38), PG (27)

## Summary

The little black cormorant (Phalacrocorax sulcirostris) is a member of the cormorant family of seabirds. It is common in smaller rivers and lakes throughout most areas of Australia and northern New Zealand, where it is known as the little black shag. It is around sixty centimetres long, and is all black with blue-green eyes.

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_black_cormorant

## Photo

![Little Black Cormorant](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/little-black-cormorant/medium.jpg)

Photo: John Cull · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/217000239

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/little-black-cormorant?lang=en` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).