This large shag is glossy black above and has black thighs and feet.  The face from above the eye and the under parts are white.  The bill is long and grey with pink below the bill.  There is a patch of buff bare skin in front of the green eye which is surrounded by a blue eye-ring.  The Pied Shag is silent except when nesting when the bird makes guttural croaks and gurgling sounds.

Diet is mainly live fish – flounder, mullet, perch, smelt and eels.

Pied Shag usually nest in small colonies in cliff side trees and are active all year round but laying peaks in July – October and January – March.  The nest is usually a large platform 0.5m across built of sticks and seaweed.  The clutch of 3 – 4 pale bluish-green eggs is incubated for 25 – 33 days.  The chicks fledge at 47 – 60 days old and are fed by their parents for up to 11 weeks after fledging.

Regularly seen on Tiri but there is no evidence of breeding.

Photography by:  Dr Kerry Rodgers ©

References: Heather, B.D.; Robertson, H.A. 2000 The Field Guide to the Birds of New Zealand. Auckland, Viking.
Moon, G The Reed Field Guide to New Zealand Birds.