The smallest cormorant, one of five in the genus Microcarbo, has a patchy distribution from southeastern Europe, especially the Balkans, to Central Asia
and Iraq. Numbers are thought to be increasing, and vagrants have occurred in France, (indeed we first saw one which wintered in Cyprus), and east to Pakistan. Whilst quite tolerant of humans, in Armenia
we saw quite large numbers but they proved unapproachable. The brown colouration on the head in breeding birds is quite unique, but is often not shown clearly in guides. Justifying the name, it is about
half the size of Great Cormorant.
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