Bronze Shag
| Bronze Shag | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Suliformes |
| Family: | Phalacrocoracidae |
| Genus: | Phalacrocorax |
| Species: | P. chalconotus |
| Binomial name | |
| Phalacrocorax chalconotus Gray, 1845 | |
| Synonyms | |
|
Leucocarbo chalconotus | |
The Bronze Shag (Phalacrocorax chalconotus), also known as the Stewart Island Shag or Stewart Shag, is a species of shag endemic to the southernmost parts of the South Island of New Zealand, from the Otago Peninsula south to the Foveaux Strait, and to Stewart Island/Rakiura, from which it takes its name.
The species is dimorphic in appearance. Roughly half the individuals are mostly dark bronze, but with white patches, similar to the King Shag; the remainder are bronze all over. The two morphs breed together indifferently. These large, chunky birds are 68 cm (27 in) and weigh 1.8-2.9 kg (4-6.4 lbs).
Bronze Shags breed colonially, making raised cup nests out of organic material and guano. Colonies are large enough to be strikingly visible, and are used year after year; there is a notable one on the northern shore of Taiaroa Head at the mouth of Otago Harbour. They feed in coastal waters, rarely if ever being seen inland or far out to sea.
They are related to the other blue-eyed shags.
References
- ↑ "the decorative lines on the sword blades thathad initially been regarded as incrustations consistedof pure copper hammered into channels that had pre-sumably already been produced in the casting process. Thus the swords are among the very few Early Bronze Age examples of a true inlay technique outside the Mediterranean world [...] An interesting parallel to these has now be found ina sword from the parish of Vreta Kloster in Östergötland, Sweden." Roland Schwab, Inga Ullén, Christian-Heinrich Wunderlich, A sword from Vreta Kloster, and black patinated bronzein Early Bronze Age Europe, Journal of Nordic Archaeological Science 17, 27–35 (2010).
- ↑ "Typologically, the swords from Nebra and Vreta belong to theSögel blades, which copy the shape and decoration of Hajdúsámson-Apa swords [...] Concerning the provenance of the swords, the area between the rivers Danube and Tisza in present-day Hungary and Romania has been suggested, as also the production in present Germany [...] Vandkilde (1996:240) proposed that thes words and daggers of the Sögel and Wohlde type in southern Jutland could have been manufactured locally." Roland Schwab, Inga Ullén, Christian-Heinrich Wunderlich, A sword from Vreta Kloster, and black patinated bronzein Early Bronze Age Europe, Journal of Nordic Archaeological Science 17, 27–35 (2010).
- ↑ BirdLife International (2012). "Phalacrocorax chalconotus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.2. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
External links
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