The College of Arms refers to the bird as a cormorant, adding that the sprig in the mouth is of laver, a type of seaweed, thus implying that the bird's appellation comes from the sprig.
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A short distance inland from Balka, the Hundsemyre bird sanctuary attracts in particular the penduline tit and the great cormorant.
Other species breeding in the area are Marsh Harriers, Common Terns and Little Terns, and Great Cormorants - which have forsaken their usual breeding sites in reed beds and made their nests in the abandoned electrical pylons in the area.
During the First Gulf War images of badly oiled cormorants from the Gulf were regularly shown in the western media, and although the Great Cormorant is also found in the Gulf, it is likely that many of these were Socotra cormorants.
Opposite the village is the Vardim Island Natural Reserve which is popular with birdwatchers as the island is a nesting site for the great cormorant, the Black-crowned Night Heron, the Common Spoonbill as well as 21 nationally protected bird species.