Japanese cormorant | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Suliformes |
Family: | Phalacrocoracidae |
Genus: | Phalacrocorax |
Species: | P. capillatus |
Binomial name | |
Phalacrocorax capillatus (Temminck & Schlegel, 1850) |
The Japanese cormorant (Phalacrocorax capillatus), also known as Temminck's cormorant, is a cormorant native to East Asia. It lives from Taiwan north through Korea and Japan to the Russian Far East.
The Japanese cormorant has a black body with a white throat and cheeks and a partially yellow bill.
It is one of the species of cormorant that has been domesticated by fishermen in a tradition known in Japan as ukai (鵜飼). It is called umiu (ウミウ sea cormorant) in Japanese. The Nagara River's well-known fishing masters work with this particular species to catch ayu.