Pied Shag

This large shag is glossy black above and has black thighs and feet. The face from above the eye and the under parts is white. The bill is long and grey with pink below the bill. There is a patch of buff-yellow 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 shags usually nest in small colonies in cliff-side trees and can breed 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.

Pied shags breed in small numbers on Tiritir Matangi and are seen frequently round the coast. The photo below shows a large chick being fed at its nest on the Island.

Learn more about the pied shag at New Zealand Birds Online.

Photography by:  Dr Kerry Rodgers © (above right) and John Stewart © (below).

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.