Double-crested Cormorants with Ring-billed Gulls

Examples of variation in DCCO gular color and borders. The front bird shows a fairly conspicuous pale feathered border to the orangish-yellow gular skin, suggesting the pattern in Neotropic Cormorant. However, the shape of the interface is typical of DCCO, showing a border extending nearly straight down under the chin, not the forward-angled border of a Neotropic.

The rear bird has a vivid reddish-orange pouch, brighter than I've seen in a while, which seems unusual in mid November without the hormonal stimulus of nesting.

Both have the bright-colored lores (matching the gular color) typical of DCCO, lacking in Neotropic. Other helpful features are the pale breast of the front bird (usually dark in Neotropic immatures and adults) and the relatively short tail. Head and bill size can be difficult to judge without comparisons, but DCCO has a proportionally larger head and bill than Neotropic.