Spotted Shag

Compared with typical cormorants, the Spotted Shag is a light-coloured bird. Its back is brown. Its belly is pale blue-grey , and the white continues up the sides of the neck and face, but the throat and the top of the head are dark blue-green. In the mating season, it has an obvious double crest. There is little sexual dimorphism.

The Spotted Shag is classified as Least Concern. Does not qualify for a more at risk category. Widespread and abundant taxa are included in this category.

The Spotted Shag or Parekareka, Phalacrocorax punctatus, is a species of cormorant endemic to New Zealand. Originally classified as Phalacrocorax punctatus, it is sufficiently different in appearance from typical members of that genus that to be for a time placed in a separate genus, Stictocarbo, along with another similar species, the Pitt Island Shag. Description - Compared with typical cormorants, the Spotted Shag is a light-coloured bird. Its back is brown. More

the Spotted Shag of New Zealand) are quite colourful. Many species have areas of coloured skin on the face (the lores and the gular skin) which can be bright blue, orange, red or yellow, typically becoming more brightly coloured in the breeding season. The bill is long, thin, and sharply hooked. Their feet are four-toed and webbed, a distinguishing feature among the Pelecaniformes order. They are coastal rather than oceanic birds, and some have colonised inland waters. More

The Spotted Shag was featured on a 60-cent New Zealand postage stamp first issued in 1988, in a series devoted to native birds. Description: Compared with typical cormorants, the Spotted Shag is a light-coloured bird. Its back is brown. Its belly is pale blue-grey (often appearing white), and the white continues up the sides of the neck and face, but the throat and the top of the head are dark blue-green. More

Spotted Shags feed at sea, often in substantial flocks, taking its prey from mid-water rather than the bottom. It is likely that pilchard and anchovy are important prey species. Spotted Shags, Queen Charlotte Sound, New Zealand Juvenile, note spots on back and wings Spotted Shags nest in colonies of 10-700 pairs, these colonies are generally found on the ledges of coastal cliffs (see photo at left) or on rocky islets. More

In the past, the spotted shag suffered persecution along with other shags and was cleared from many coastal areas where it was once common. Edgar Stead, in railing against their persecution, relates “the ghastly practice of so–called sportsmen, who used to make up launch parties, go and lie off the cliffs where these birds were nesting, and callously murder whole colonies of them, leaving the young to die of starvation in the nests”. Their numbers now, however, seem to be increasing. More

<< Here we have the Spotted shag in the same place, after Xmas, the nesting season being over. See how the crest has gone and the facial patches faded. But they really are "Spotted" due to black tips to feathers. Hundreds of Spotted shags thunder back and forth along the cliffs, seemingly visiting other groups. The odd fur seal lolls in the water below. << Good drying weather. We BELIEVE these three pix are all of the Little Shag which can be highly variagated in colour. More

Spotted shags (Stictocarbo punctatus) are best known for their striking breeding plumage, double crest and bright green facial skin. The pale grey front and light brown back and wings differ from the more common black and white shag colours. The Māori name is parekareka, and in Canterbury they are locally known as ‘flip-flaps’, from their laboured take-off from the water. Spotted shags are of medium size – 70 centimetres long and weighing 1.2 kilograms. More

During breeding the spotted shag looks regal in its patterned cloak of plumage, the muted browns and greys a departure from the stark black and white of many shags. It has a generous double crest, the eye ring is a greenish blue, and the flesh in front of the eye is an almost fluorescent emerald green. Fine white feathers hang from its neck. Most of these features become lost or muted outside the breeding season. More

Average rating: Spotted Shag in breeding plumage, Sumner Head. 0. More

Compared with typical cormorants, the Spotted Shag is a light-coloured bird. Its back is brown. Its belly is pale blue-grey (often appearing white), and the white continues up the sides of the neck and face, but the throat and the top of the head are dark blue-green. In the mating season, it has an obvious double crest. There is little sexual dimorphism. Spotted Shags feed at sea, often in substantial flocks, taking its prey from mid-water rather than the bottom. More