New Zealand king shag
| New Zealand king shag | |
|---|---|
| |
| New Zealand king shags | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | |
| Phylum: | |
| Class: | |
| Order: | |
| Family: | |
| Genus: | |
| 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.[citation needed]
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
- ^ Template:IUCN
- ^ 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.