Double-crested Cormorant — Audubon, Birds of America Plate 257

A cormorant on watch over the northern sea. Standing upright on a rock, a double-crested cormorant turns its head in profile. Its plumage shines green-black, the wing feathers drawn like scales, the throat a bright orange and the eye turquoise. On its head, two wild tufts of feathers give the species its name. Behind it, grey cliffs, a pale sea and, on a low islet, a whole colony of cormorants.

Audubon painted this male in its spring plumage in late July or early August 1833, near Little Mecatina on the coast of Labrador. The two crests only show in the breeding season, a detail rarely seen in the field.

Why it works on your wall

• Calm and coastal: deep greens, sandy browns and sea blues for a bathroom, a hallway or a beach house
• A strong silhouette: the upright bird reads clearly from across the room, even in a smaller size
• Framing tip: natural oak or a thin black frame; works beautifully in a pair with the Black-backed Gull

The plate

Plate 257 was engraved by Robert Havell in London in 1835, with the caption “Double-crested Cormorant, Phalacrocorax dilophus, Male adult, spring plumage”. Today the species is the most widespread cormorant in North America.

• Artist: John James Audubon (1785–1851), engraved by Robert Havell Jr.
• Work: The Birds of America, plate 257 (CCLVII)
• Date: painted in Labrador in 1833, engraved in 1835
• Technique: etching and aquatint, coloured by hand
• Bird: double-crested cormorant, male in spring plumage

John James Audubon (1785–1851) set out to paint every bird of North America at life size. Between 1827 and 1838, his watercolours became the 435 plates of The Birds of America, etched and aquatinted in London, most of them by Robert Havell Jr., printed on “double elephant” sheets of about 100 × 66 cm and coloured by hand, one by one. Read the story of the book.

Your print

• Restored from a high-definition scan of the original hand-coloured plate, keeping the warm tone of the old paper
• Printed in Europe on thick archival matte paper, FSC certified
• From A4 to A0, plus 40×60, 50×70, 60×90 and 70×100 cm and 12×18 to 27×40 inch sizes, all made for standard frames
• Free shipping, no minimum order. Shipped rolled in a sturdy tube

Pair it with the Black-backed Gull or the Brown Pelican, or explore all our John James Audubon prints.