This group of "micro-cormorants" assumed the genus name Microcarbo, initially described by French naturalist Charles Lucien Bonaparte in 1855.

[3] The generic name is derived from the Ancient Greek mikros "small", and Latin carbo "black".

In the now-extinct Waray language spoken along the Adelaide River in North Arnhem Land, the species was known as mawa.

Subspecies melanoleucos and brevicauda are found only in a pied morph, black (with a slight green tinge) above and white beneath.

[6] The species ranges across New Zealand, from Stewart Island to Northland,[2] and across mainland Australia (although not in the arid interior of the west of the country) and Tasmania.

[5] Widespread and common, it lives near bodies of water such as swamps, lakes, lagoons, estuaries and the coastline.

It takes a variety of fish prey but an unusually high proportion (nearly 30% by weight on average, and up to 80% in some individuals) of crustaceans.

The nest is a platform built of branches and sticks, often still green with leaves in the forks of trees, usually eucalypts that are standing in water.

The eggs are covered with a thin layer of lime, giving them a matte white coated appearance.