Editing Pygmy cormorant (section)

== Threats ==
The pygmy cormorant is a species with [[habitat]]s strongly affected by human actions. Threats include the drainage and serious degradation of wetlands and their associated woodland, water pollution, disturbance, and poaching as well as drowning in fishing nets.

Being a great fish consumer and destroyer of fishing nets, it is often persecuted by fishermen. In Romania, pond drainage located on the inferior course of the Danube for agricultural purposes, the accidental death of birds captive in improvised fishing nets, nest destruction by professional fishermen in order to protect fish resources decreased of the number of individuals which put the species on the [[International Union for Conservation of Nature]] (IUCN) [[IUCN Red List|Red List]] as a vulnerable species. It is also hunted in leisure activities, and in Iran the pygmy cormorant is commercialized for cooking.

This species is distinguished from the great cormorant and the common shag by its much smaller size (length 64-78cm), lighter build, and long tail.

It feeds mainly on fish, often hunting in groups, and perches in trees between fishing expeditions.

The pygmy cormorant is one of the species to which the ''Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds'' ([[AEWA]]) applies.<ref name=aewa/>