Double Crested Cormorant (Shag) at the Tampa Convention Center

These birds are seen here in Tampa everywhere; they seem to be very good at fishing. While resting in between sessions of a conference held at the Tampa Conference Center I couldn't resist the temptation to get close and photograph this Cormorant just facing the wind in the company of some seagulls. The name Cormorant comes from the Latin contraction corvus marinus which means "sea raven"; the raven is a similar bird which this species was confused with. These birds are interesting regarding their nesting behavior; they gather just about anything for making nests including plastic debris, and even parts of dead birds. It seems they sometimes confuse pebbles that they bring into their nests and just proceed to treat them as eggs. More interesting facts about Cormorants can be read from the Cornell University Bird Guide.