We saw only a few of these distinctive cormorants at scattered nests. Listed as "near vulnerable" by IUCN, this uncommon South American endemic has recently suffered severe declines in the northern part of its Peru range partly because of ENSO (El Nino) events. This unique, short-legged cormorant has been placed in Carbo, Stictocarbo, Leucocarbo, Notocarbo or Poikilocarbo by various authors. Canon PowerShot SX50 HS.
References:
BirdLife International. 2016. Phalacrocorax gaimardi. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T22696898A93591504. http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22696898A93591504.en. Downloaded on 20 January 2018.
Frere, Esteban and Ana Millones. 2012. Red-legged Cormorant (Phalacrocorax gaimardi), version 1.0. In Neotropical Birds Online (T. S. Schulenberg, editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/nb.relcor1.01
Orta, J., Jutglar, F., Garcia, E.F.J., Kirwan, G.M., Bonan, A. & Boesman, P. (2018). Red-legged Cormorant (Phalacrocorax gaimardi). In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. (retrieved from https://www.hbw.com/node/52656 on 20 January 2018).