- Lifespan
- 15–20 years in the wild
- Size & Weight
- 65–76 cm, wingspan 95–105 cm; 800–1,000 g
- Habitat
- Rocky coastal cliffs, islands, and sheltered inshore waters where it dives for fish.
- UK Distribution
- Year-round resident around UK coasts, with populations concentrated on rocky Atlantic-facing coasts of Scotland, Wales, and southwest England; some altitudinal and latitudinal movement in winter.
- Diet
- Primarily small fish including sandeels, pouting, whiting, and other bottom-dwelling and mid-water species; obtained by diving and swimming underwater.
- Prey
- Sandeels, pouting, whiting, gobies, and other small fish
- Predators
- Great Black-backed Gulls (predation on chicks and eggs), White-tailed Eagles, foxes (on ground nests), and rats on islands
- Mating Season
- February to June
- Breeding
- Clutch size typically 2–3 eggs; incubation period 28–31 days; single brood per year; chicks fledge at 45–50 days.
- Behaviour
- Highly gregarious, nesting in colonies on cliff ledges and rocky outcrops. Skilled underwater swimmers using their feet for propulsion. Often seen with wings held out to dry, a characteristic cormorant behaviour.