New Zealand king shag
| New Zealand king shag | |
|---|---|
 | |
| New Zealand king shags | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Suliformes |
| Family: | Phalacrocoracidae |
| Genus: | Phalacrocorax |
| Species: | P. carunculatus |
| Binomial name | |
| Phalacrocorax carunculatus Gmelin, 1789 | |
The New Zealand king shag (Phalacrocorax carunculatus), also known as the rough-faced shag or king shag, is a rare bird endemic to New Zealand.
Description
It is a large (76 cm long, 2.5 kg in weight) black and white cormorant with pink feet. White patches on the wings appear as bars when the wings are folded. Yellow-orange swellings (caruncles) are found above the base of the bill. The grey gular pouch is reddish in the breeding season. A blue eye-ring indicates its kinship with the other blue-eyed shags. They can be seen from the Cook Strait ferries in Queen Charlotte Sound opposite the beginning of the Tory Channel.
Habitat
New Zealand king shags live in the coastal waters of the Marlborough Sounds where they are known to breed only on rocky islets at four small sites.[2]
References
- ↑ BirdLife International (2012). "Phalacrocorax carunculatus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.2. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
- ↑ BirdLife International. (2012). Important Bird Areas factsheets: Duffers Reef. Sentinel Rock. Trio Islands. White Rocks. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 2012-02-03.
External links
- BirdLife Species Factsheet
- Image and Classification at Animal Diversity Web
- New Zealand Birds Online images factsheet and images