There is a Pied cormorant ( above) waddling across the beach. It looks out of place among the fleet footed silver gulls clustered in little groups along the shore, which stand on one sauce coloured leg. Eyelids fluttering and feathers ruffling in the on shore breeze. He waddles among them, like a stranger in his own land while they float in the shallows and small sandbars, which the little white caps roll over, before converging again in deeper water, and creeping up the sand with wet, disappearing fingers.
What do cormorants eat? Fish mainly. Silver gulls are far more adaptive. They have adapted to humanity and coastal societies. Scavengers. thriving on the waste of our hubris.
Cormorants retain much of their inherent nature. Still requiring a distinctly oceanic habitat. They cant pilfer scraps from pie wrappers. They dive deep into the sea. Catching fish and crusteaceans.Otherwize, what? Will you ever see a pied cormorant perched atop a bin, or stalking the outskirts of a footy oval? I doubt it. Some birds are more adaptive than others.
