---
id: 2026-02-27T17:11:14-0500
title: 2026-02-27 17:11:14
tags:
  - status/complete
  - topic/hobbies/birding
daily: "[[2026-02-27]]"
date-created: 2026-02-27T17:11:14-05:00
---
# 2026-02-27 17:11:14

I confidently identified a cormorant
from a peripheral glance while I was driving.
I wondered how I was able to distinguish it from the very similar anhinga
(also a black diving bird with a yellow beak and of the same size)
despite the distance and poor focus of the sighting,
and I believe it was the silhouette.

While on the water's surface,
Cormorants swim like geese or swans, with a S-shaped neck,
where anhingas stretch their necks out forward
with an upward angle to their beaks.
It's because of this difference in posture
that I associate cormorants with pride and dignity,
where anhingas seem more to me
like they're barely hanging on to their niche.

I'm reminded of a conversation I had recently with a peer.
They stated (as I interpreted it)
that despite how popular it is to pretend otherwise,
animals do not experience emotion
in any way meaningfully similar to our own perception.
To which I agree.
Certainly cormorants do not feel pride,
nor do anhingas feel the insecurity I project onto them.
but sometimes lies are more useful than truth.
