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Flightless Cormorant

Chris Packham presents the flightless cormorant adapted to its Galapagos world.

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Chris Packham presents the flightless cormorant adapted to its Galapagos world. The isolated Galapagos Islands are famous for their unique wildlife which has evolved to adapt to a landscape free of predators. This absence of predators has allowed the native cormorant to dispense with the need to fly, why waste energy when there's nothing to fly away from? This is the only flightless member of the cormorant family, which feeds on fish and for that reason it has developed stronger feet for swimming after its prey. They nest on the rocky coasts of Fernandina and Isabela islands and the population can dip below a thousand birds especially after hurricanes or collapses in local fish numbers. They recover quickly though, but are vulnerable to introduced dogs which nearly eliminated the cormorants on Isabela Island.

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1 minute

Last on

Fri 26 Aug 2022 05:58

Flightless Cormorant (Phalacrocorax harrisi)

Webpage image courtesy of Tui De Roy / naturepl.com

NPL Ref 漏 Tui De Roy / naturepl.com

Broadcasts

  • Tue 25 Nov 2014 05:58
  • Wed 16 Dec 2015 05:58
  • Tue 16 Jun 2020 05:58
  • Fri 2 Jul 2021 05:58
  • Fri 26 Aug 2022 05:58

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