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00:00En order to hunt for larger prey, birds must be able to dive deeper and longer.
00:29This is a cormorant.
00:31Under water, it is as comfortable and adept as any fish.
00:43The cormorant's hunting skills lie with its feet.
00:54It has well-developed webbed feet.
01:00Ducks and penguins typically have two webs on each foot.
01:03The cormorant, however, has three.
01:12Webbed feet act as a kind of propeller, allowing birds to swim at high speed underwater.
01:18They also function as a rudder.
01:31The cormorant can dive as deep as 45 meters.
01:34When diving to such depths, it pulls its wings close to its body to reduce resistance.
02:02The cormorant can even catch the Chinese muddy loach that resides at the water's bottom.
02:12But the Chinese muddy loach is sleek and strong, making it tough to catch.
02:39The cormorant's feet are located farther back than other birds.
03:10It is wiggly and wriggly.
03:13It's proving quite difficult to hold on to.
03:25Hunting skills are important, but it is persistence that eventually means the difference between
03:31success and failure.
03:47The cormorant forgoes waterproof feathers in order to dive deeper.
03:53Without them, it reduces buoyancy.
04:03That means there's work to do after the underwater hunt.
04:15It is drying its wet feathers in the sun.
04:25When it's hot, it vibrates the area just below its bill.
04:29That helps reduce body temperature.
04:33The cormorant jumps into the water to find food.
04:38It swims instead of flapping.
04:41To catch a fish, its hunting strategy is to become a fish.