NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Little Cormorant
Microcarbo niger (Vieillot, 1817)
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
The Little Cormorant Microcarbo niger is a member of the cormorant family of seabirds. It is common in smaller rivers and lakes throughout most areas of India and Indochina; here photographed in Nalbari district, Assam, India. It is around 55 centimetres long, and is all blackish with dark eyes.
Tridib Sarma · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
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.
Wikipedia contributors, Little cormorant; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T05:26:23.084086+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Microcarbo niger (Vieillot, 1817)
- Name authority
- (Vieillot, 1817)
- Common name
- Little Cormorant
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Suliformes
- Family
- Phalacrocoracidae
- Genus
- Microcarbo
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classAves
- orderSuliformes
- familyPhalacrocoracidae Reichenbach, 1849
- genusMicrocarbo Bonaparte, 1856
- speciesMicrocarbo niger (Vieillot, 1817)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Microcarbo. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Reed CormorantMicrocarbo africanus (J. F. Gmelin, 1789) | PhalacrocoracidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Crowned CormorantMicrocarbo coronatus (Wahlberg, 1855) | PhalacrocoracidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Pygmy CormorantMicrocarbo pygmaeus (Pallas, 1773) | PhalacrocoracidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Little Pied CormorantMicrocarbo melanoleucos (Vieillot, 1817) | PhalacrocoracidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Phalacrocorax niger (Vieillot, 1817) (Vieillot, 1817) | synonym |
| Hydrocorax niger Vieillot, 1817 Vieillot, 1817 | synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=823999 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:42S9G. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.