cormorant, cormorants

The scientific genus name for cormorant is latinized Ancient Greek, from φαλακρός (phalakros, "bald") and κόραξ (korax, "raven"). This is often thought to refer to the creamy white patch on the cheeks of adult Great Cormorants, or the ornamental white head plumes prominent in Mediterranean birds of this species, but is certainly not a unifying characteristic of cormorants. "Cormorant" is a contraction derived from Latin corvus marinus, "sea raven". Indeed, "sea raven" or analogous terms were the usual terms for cormorants in Germanic languages until after the Middle Ages, and the erroneous belief that these birds were related to ravens lasted at least to the 16th century:

Direction Walk 0.49 km or 7 mins south west from last photo
Location Jinja, East Africa, Uganda, Africa
Info F 14.0 1/2000 ISO 1600 with Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XTi
Country Uganda State East Africa
City Jinja Near River Nile
Continent Africa Day Jinja
Activity Samuka Island Boat Ride Tour GAP (Great Adventure People)
Date 2007:09:23 10:30:59 Make Canon
Model Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XTi Width 2592
Height 1944 Flash Off, Did not fire
Focal 165.0 mm Exposure 1/2000
F Number 14.0 ISO 1600
White Bal. Auto Program Aperture-priority AE
Compensation 0 Hyperfocal 104.74 m
Latitude 0.4184 Longitude 33.1943444444444
Altitude 72.28768927 m File Size 3.5 MB
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