Imperial Shag
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| Imperial Shag | ||||||||||||||
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 Phalacrocorax (atriceps) atriceps,
Beagle Channel |
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| Phalacrocorax atriceps (King, 1828) |
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The Imperial Shag, Phalacrocorax atriceps, is a cormorant native to many islands of the Southern Hemisphere. It is sometimes separated in the genus Leucocarbo. It is also known as the Blue-eyed Shag and by many other names (11 just for the South American race), and is one of a larger group of cormorants called blue-eyed shags.[1]
Several subspecies were formerly split as species, but are lumped with Imperial by HANZAB.[2] They include
- Phalacrocorax (atriceps) bransfieldensis, formerly Antarctic Shag
- Phalacrocorax (atriceps) georgianus, formerly South Georgian Shag
- Phalacrocorax (atriceps) nivalis, formerly Heard Shag
- Phalacrocorax (atriceps) melanogenis, formerly Crozet Shag
- Phalacrocorax (atriceps) purpurascens, formerly Macquarie Shag
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[edit] Description
The Imperial Shag is endowed with glossy black feathers covering most of its body, with a white belly and neck. It possesses a distinctive ring of blue skin around its eyes, a bright orange nasal crest and pinkish legs and feet.[1]
[edit] Distribution
This species is found on the coasts of southern Chile and Argentina,[1] on the Antarctic Peninsula, and on many islands in the Southern Hemisphere, including the Falklands, South Georgia, Heard Island and Macquarie Island.
[edit] Diet
The diet of this species is predominantly fish. It can dive to a depth of almost 25m and South American populations eat mainly Argentine anchoita[3].
[edit] References
- ^ a b c Nelson, J. Bryan (2006), Pelicans, Cormorants, and Their Relatives: The Pelecaniformes, Oxford University Press, U.S.A., pp. 489–493, Plate 8, ISBN 978-0-19-857727-0
- ^ Marchant, S. & Higgins, P. J. (2002), HANZAB species list, Birds Australia, <http://www.birdsaustralia.com.au/hanzab/HANZAB_spp_list.pdf>. Retrieved on 11 October 2007
- ^ Temporal patterns in the diet and food partitioning in imperial cormorants (Phalacrocorax atriceps) and rock shags (P. magellanicus) breeding at Bahía Bustamante, Argentina
- BirdLife International (2006) Species factsheet: Phalacrocorax atriceps. Downloaded from [1] on 6/5/2007
