Cormorants are monogamous and breed in colonies of up to three thousand pairs. The male chooses a nest site and then advertises for a female by standing in a “wing-waving display” that shows off the brightly-colored skin on his head and neck. Males also perform elaborate courtship dances, including dances in the water where they present the female with nest material. After forming a pair, double-crested cormorants lose their crests.
Double-crested cormorants do not defend a large territory around the nest. They defend a small area immediately around the nest that is less than one meter in diameter.
Mating System: monogamous
Double-crested cormorants breed between April and August. The males arrive at the breeding colony first and chose a nest site. Then they advertise for a mate. The male and female work together to repair an old nest or to build a new one. Nests are built of sticks, twigs, vegetation and whatever else the cormorants can find lying around. This can include rope, fishnet, buoys and deflated balloons. The male brings most of the material to the female who builds the nest. She also guards it from neighboring cormorants who try to steal the nest materials. Nests are usually built on the ground, but are sometimes built in trees.
After the nest is finished, the female lays 1 to 7 (usually 4) pale bluish-white eggs with a chalky coating. The eggs are laid 1 to 3 days apart. Both parents incubate the eggs, which hatch after 25 to 28 days. The newly hatched young are altricial, and are cared for by both parents. Both parents feed the chicks regurgitated food. The young begin to leave the nest when they are 3 to 4 weeks old. They can fly at about 6 weeks and dive at 6 to 7 weeks. The chicks become completely independent of their parents by 10 weeks of age. Double-crested cormorants do not breed until they are at least 2 years old.
Breeding interval: Double-crested cormorants breed once yearly.
Breeding season: Double-crested cormorants breed between April and August, with peak activity occurring in May through July.
Range eggs per season: 1 to 7.
Range time to hatching: 25 to 28 days.
Range fledging age: 3 to 4 weeks.
Average time to independence: 10 weeks.
Range age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female): 2 (low) years.
Range age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male): 2 (low) years.
Key Reproductive Features: seasonal breeding ; gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate)
Average eggs per season: 3.
Both parents incubate the eggs and care for the altricial chicks. The parents feed the chicks regurgitated food 2 to 6 times per day. On hot days, parents fetch water and pour it directly from their beak into the open mouths of the chicks.
Parental Investment: altricial ; pre-fertilization (Provisioning, Protecting: Female); pre-hatching/birth (Protecting: Male, Female); pre-weaning/fledging (Provisioning: Male, Female, Protecting: Male, Female); pre-independence (Provisioning: Male, Female, Protecting: Male, Female)