Brandt’s Cormorants breed along the Pacific Coast from Alaska to Mexico, but have never been numerous breeders in Canada. Many overwinter in southern British Columbia. Reproductive effort varies among years in response to climate-induced changes in the marine environment; a phenomenon that can affect population size but also complicates monitoring. Further complicating this assessment is the fact that the species’ population status relative to 1970 varies seasonally, with breeding and non-breeding population abundances seemingly following different trajectories. Sporadic surveys suggest a decrease in the breeding population, but results from the Christmas Bird Count and the British Columbia Coastal Waterbird Survey suggest little overall change or even an increase in the wintering population. Given that the wintering population is much larger than the breeding population, the overall status of the national population is perhaps best assessed as having changed little relative to 1970. This species has been identified as a priority for conservation and/or stewardship in one or more Bird Conservation Region Strategies in Canada.
The reproductive success of Brandt’s Cormorant declines when there is a reduction in rockfish, its preferred prey (Ainley et al. 1995), and increases rapidly when prey availability is high (Ainley et al. 2018). Increasing regulation of gillnet fisheries in recent decades may have benefited the species by reducing mortality from entanglement in nets (Wallace and Wallace 1998).
Environment and Climate Change Canada and partners have developed Bird Conservation Region Strategies in each of Canada’s Bird Conservation Regions (BCRs). In these strategies, selected species are identified as priorities for one or more of the following reasons:
Select any of the sub-regions below to view the BCR strategy for additional details.
