The design of a bird’s beak indicates the kind of food that it lives on. The cormorant is a fish eating bird so its beak has a hook at the end allowing it to grasp hold of a fish. The cormorant, like all fish eaters, uses its beak to catch its prey in comparison with a meat eating bird, which uses its talons. Strong beaks are needed for cracking seeds and nuts; thin beaks are useful for catching insects and meat eaters have sharp beaks for tearing food into pieces.

Cormorants are common on the coasts of the British Isles and in tidal waters, though there are species of cormorant around the world. Their feathers are black and are specially designed not to trap air so that they can dive under water quickly and overtake the fish they are trying to catch, making them expert fish catchers. The lack of waterproofing on their feathers means that they are often seen flapping their outstretched wings when they return to land.

Their skill at fish catching was used in England in Stuart times, and in Japan, China and other countries, to catch fish for people. They were fitted with a tight collar to stop them from swallowing any fish they caught.