Bird Identification

Any birders here? This should be an easy one (well, obviously not for me) as you don't need to go very far to find these beautiful black birds shown below. What exactly are they? Do they always wear an all black coat or do they change color in their life cycles? Thanks in advance!

Cormorant
Diving Bird

The Pelagic species has white feathers for eyelashes and blue eyes

I'm not a bird expert, so I'll guess they're Cormorants.

Al

Thanks Johnny and Papa Al!

They're elegant birds. I admire them every time I paddle out.

Funny Story told by my co-worker
Birds are naturally skittish creatures and out of the water, cormorants follow the same behavior as their feathered friends. 
When SCUBA diving for work, Cormorants, underwater, would come right up and investigate him without hesitation.

Anyone else have similar experiences?

Marc, I don't know if you've noticed that sometimes these birds perch with their wings unfolded.  After repetitive dives, their feathers become waterlogged and they must dry out before they can properly flay again. 

Cormorants are used in traditional fishing methodology (Ukai) to catch Ayu and other fish in parts of the world. Note the string around the neck that prevents them from swallowing the fish. They are of course rewarded with extra fish at the end of the day!

Marc, I don't know if you've noticed that sometimes these birds perch with their wings unfolded.  After repetitive dives, their feathers become waterlogged and they must dry out before they can properly flay again.

As you can imagine I needed to know more and learned that Pelagic Cormorants dive as deep as 138 feet to catch fish. They also have relatively short wings well suited for diving but not ideal for flying. I didn't know that they need to dry out between runs but I noticed that they sure like a bath in the sunshine. I bet the black coat warms up fast, too. Ok, Johnny, you've turned me into a birder. Cheers

Cormorants are used in traditional fishing methodology (Ukai) to catch Ayu and other fish in parts of the world. Note the string around the neck that prevents them from swallowing the fish. They are of course rewarded with extra fish at the end of the day!

Ingenious!

Actually had one board my kayak once and after a little while it got comfortable enough to let me pet it. Magical indeed.

One dive bombed on me in Monterey about 25 years ago while spearfishing. I was hunting in about 40 feet of water and it startled me for a second. Almost had chicken of the sea for dinner that night   

Have caught them while trolling for salmon @100 ft down on downrigger . They are heavy boned deep divers.

Have caught them while trolling for salmon @100 ft down on downrigger . They are heavy boned deep divers.

Any measurements taken on the hog trough

Actually had one board my kayak once and after a little while it got comfortable enough to let me pet it. Magical indeed.

Not a cormorant, but this bird seemed to enjoy his ride on my AI...