Status of the breeding population of Great Cormorants in Switzerland in 2012

In the summer of 2012, Switzerland had 1,037 occupied nests of Great Cormorants (Phalacrocorax carbo sinensis) in 13 colonies. The overall number of nests has almost doubled since 2010 (560 nests). Cormorant numbers have been monitored in Switzerland since the establishment of a breeding population in 2001 (Keller et al. 2012). It is believed that complete coverage of all breeders was obtained in the 2012 colony count, which was carried out by volunteers under the guidance of the Swiss Ornithological Institute.