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European Shag

European Shag

Gulosus aristotelis

Identify the European Shag by sound or photo and log your sightings with Birdpass.

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The European Shag is a sleek, black coastal cormorant with a metallic green sheen and a small forward-curling crest in the breeding season. The only member of its genus, it breeds on rocky shores of western and southern Europe, south-western Asia and North Africa and usually stays near those coasts year-round. Smaller and slimmer than the Great Cormorant, it is an agile underwater hunter that often forages near the sea floor.

Did you know?

  • It is among the deepest-diving cormorants, recorded at about 61 m.
  • Gulosus is Latin for “glutton”, and aristotelis honours Aristotle.

Voice

Sound

About the species

Identification

Smaller and slimmer than Great Cormorant, with a thinner bill and steeper forehead; adults are all black, young birds brownish with a pale throat. In breeding plumage the feathers have a greenish gloss and a small forward-curling crest sits on the forehead. The base of the bill shows yellow skin. In flight it has fast, deep wingbeats and usually flies low over the sea.

Family

Phalacrocoracidae

Size

Very large (swan)

Colours

black, green, yellow

About the habitat

Rugged rocky coasts, cliffs and offshore islands along the Atlantic, Mediterranean and Black Sea; rarely seen inland.

Diet

Mainly small fish caught near the seabed, often sand eels, as well as other fish depending on local conditions.

Behaviour

Dives repeatedly with short pauses at the surface, often leaping forward to start a dive, and may travel several kilometres from roosts to feed. It nests in colonies on rocky ledges, crevices and small caves, building untidy piles of seaweed and twigs cemented with droppings; the chicks hatch naked and depend on their parents for warmth.

Sources

Photo: Andreas Trepte, CC BY-SA 2.5 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:European Shag.jpg

Sound: Sternanita3, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cormoran_moñudo.ogg

Text: Wikipedia (English), CC BY-SA 4.0 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_shag

See also