As with the Campbell Island Teal, another of my hopes for this visit to the subantarctic was for some better images of Campbell Island Shag. On my previous trip I had got a few record shots of birds resting along the margin of Perseverance Harbour but nothing that I was really happy with and didn’t publish any in the blog.
On this visit I was a bit luckier. We encountered a number resting in good light along the margins of the harbour as well as 2 groups out fishing. More than that, the Zodiac driver on this excursion was Steve Reynolds, a fellow bird photography nut, who positioned us very well to maximise the opportunities.
I hadn’t previously seen this group fishing behaviour so it was interesting to watch as well as record photgraphically.
The Campbell Island Shag is one of 6 pink-footed shags endemic to New Zealand and the only shag found on Campbell Island. It is similar in appearance to the Auckland Island Shag but can be differentiated by the latter having a continuous white line from chin and throat to breast. As can be seen in these photos the Campbell Island Shag has a white chin and throat but a black front to the neck above the white breast.
New Zealand is a world hot spot for shags (or cormorants) with approximately 1/3 of the world’s species occurring here. Foot colour is a starting point for identification with the pink-footed group including Campbell, Auckland, Otago (Stewart Island), Chatham, Bounty and the rare King Shag.
I have written before on Spotted Shag which, with the Pitt Island Shag are the two in the yellow-footed group. All these are marine birds.
The black-footed group include the Black Shag (Great Cormorant), Little Shag, Little Black Shag (which can be found in fresh water environments) and the Pied Shag which is marine. See newzealandbirdsonline for more detailed information on New Zealand Shags.
