Basra Karabatağı Phalacrocorax nigrogularis

Medium-sized, slender black cormorant. Note diagnostic white plume tuft on the cheeks (most noticeable in breeding adults). Juvenile is dull brown with paler underparts. Breeds on small desert islands in the Persian Gulf and Arabian Sea. Exclusively coastal, shunning inland waters. Forages in flocks, often in immense congregations.