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Cormorant
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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For other uses, see Cormorant (disambiguation).
Cormorants and shags
Temporal range: Late Cretaceous – Recent
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Microcarbo melanoleucos Austins Ferry 3.jpg
Little pied cormorant
Microcarbo melanoleucos
Scientific classification edit
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Suliformes
Family: Phalacrocoracidae
Reichenbach, 1850
Genus: Phalacrocorax
Brisson, 1760
Species
3–43, see text
Synonyms
Australocorax Lambrecht, 1931
Compsohalieus B. Brewer & Ridgway, 1884
Cormoranus Baillon, 1834
Dilophalieus Coues, 1903
Ecmeles Gistel, 1848
Euleucocarbo Voisin, 1973
Halietor Heine, 1860
Hydrocorax Vieillot, 1819 (non Brisson, 1760: preoccupied)
Hypoleucus Reichenbach, 1852
Leucocarbo Bonaparte, 1857
Microcarbo Bonaparte, 1856
Miocorax Lambrecht, 1933
Nannopterum Sharpe, 1899
Nesocarbo Voisin, 1973
Notocarbo Siegel-Causey, 1988
Pallasicarbo Coues, 1903
Paracorax Lambrecht, 1933
Poikilocarbo Boetticher, 1935
Pliocarbo Tugarinov, 1940
Stictocarbo Bonaparte, 1855
Viguacarbo Coues, 1903
(but see text)
Phalacrocoracidae is a family of approximately 40 species of aquatic birds
commonly known as cormorants and shags. Several different classifications of the
family have been proposed recently, and the number of genera is disputed. The
great cormorant (P. carbo) and the common shag (P. aristotelis) are the only two
species of the family commonly encountered on the British Isles, cormorant 1
cormorant and "cormorant" and "shag" appellations have been later assigned to
different species in the family somewhat haphazardly.
Cormorants and shags are medium-to-large birds, with body weight in the range of
0.35–5 kilograms (0.77–11.02 lb) and wing span of 45–100 centimetres (18–39 in).
The majority of species have dark feathers. The bill is long, thin and hooked.
Their feet have webbing between all four toes. All species are fish-eaters,
catching the prey by diving from the surface. They are excellent divers, and
under water they propel themselves with their feet with help from their wings;
some cormorant species have been found to dive as deep as 45 metres. They have
relatively short wings due to their need for economical movement underwater, and
consequently have the highest flight costs of any flying bird. cormorant 2
cormorant
Cormorants nest in colonies around the shore, on trees, islets or cliffs. They
are coastal rather than oceanic birds, and some have colonised inland waters –
indeed, the original ancestor of cormorants seems to have been a fresh-water
bird. cormorant citation needed cormorant They range around the world, except
for the central Pacific islands.
The Cormorant relaxing on the twig, India
Contents
1 Names
2 Description
3 Habitat
4 Behaviour
5 Systematics
5.1 Species in HBW taxonomic sequence
5.2 Species in phylogenetic sequence
5.3 Evolution and fossil record
6 In human culture
6.1 Cormorant fishing
6.2 In folklore, literature, and art
7 See also
8 Footnotes
9 References
10 External links
Names
No consistent distinction exists between cormorants and shags. The names
'cormorant' and 'shag' were originally the common names of the two species of
the family found in Great Britain, Phalacrocorax carbo (now referred to by
ornithologists as the great cormorant) and P. aristotelis (the European shag).
"Shag" refers to the bird's crest, which the British forms of the great
cormorant lack. As other species were discovered by English-speaking sailors and
explorers elsewhere in the world, some were called cormorants and some shags,
depending on whether they had crests or not. Sometimes the same species is
called a cormorant in one part of the world and a shag in another, e.g., the
great cormorant is called the black shag in New Zealand (the birds found in
Australasia have a crest that is absent in European members of the species). Van
Tets (1976) proposed to divide the family into two genera and attach the name
"cormorant" to one and "shag" to the other, but this flies in the face of common
usage and has not been widely adopted.
The scientific genus name is Latinised Ancient Greek, from φαλακρός (phalakros,
"bald") and κόραξ (korax, "raven"). cormorant 3 cormorant This is often thought
to refer to the creamy white patch on the cheeks of adult great cormorants, or
the ornamental white head plumes prominent in Mediterranean birds of this
species, but is certainly not a unifying characteristic of cormorants.
"Cormorant" is a contraction derived either directly from Latin corvus marinus,
"sea raven" or through Brythonic Celtic. Cormoran is the Cornish name of the sea
giant in the tale of Jack the Giant Killer. Indeed, "sea raven" or analogous
terms were the usual terms for cormorants in Germanic languages until after the
Middle Ages. The French explorer André Thévet commented in 1558, "...the beak
cormorant is cormorant similar to that of a cormorant or other corvid," which
demonstrates that the erroneous belief that the birds were related to ravens
lasted at least to the 16th century.
Description
Great cormorant with hooked bill
Cormorants and shags are medium-to-large seabirds. They range in size from the
pygmy cormorant (Phalacrocorax pygmaeus), at as little as 45 cm (18 in) and 340
g (12 oz), to the flightless cormorant (Phalacrocorax harrisi), at a maximum
size 100 cm (39 in) and 5 kg (11 lb). The recently extinct spectacled cormorant
(Phalacrocorax perspicillatus) was rather larger, at an average size of 6.3 kg
(14 lb). The majority, including nearly all Northern Hemisphere species, have
mainly dark plumage, but some Southern Hemisphere species are black and white,
and a few (e.g. the spotted shag of New Zealand) are quite colourful. Many
species have areas of coloured skin on the face (the lores and the gular skin)
which can be bright blue, orange, red or yellow, typically becoming more
brightly coloured in the breeding season. The bill is long, thin, and sharply
hooked. Their feet have webbing between all four toes, as in their relatives.
Habitat
Imperial shags in Beagle Channel
They are coastal rather than oceanic birds, and some have colonised inland
waters – indeed, the original ancestor of cormorants seems to have been a
fresh-water bird, judging from the habitat of the most ancient lineage. They
range around the world, except for the central Pacific islands.
Behaviour
All are fish-eaters, dining on small eels, fish, and even water snakes. They
dive from the surface, though many species make a characteristic half-jump as
they dive, presumably to give themselves a more streamlined entry into the
water. Under water they propel themselves with their feet, though some also
propel themselves with their wings (see the picture, cormorant 4 cormorant
commentary cormorant 5 cormorant and existing reference video cormorant 6
cormorant ). Some cormorant species have been found, using depth gauges, to dive
to depths of as much as 45 metres.
Wing-drying behaviour
After fishing, cormorants go ashore, and are frequently seen holding their wings
out in the sun. All cormorants have preen gland secretions that are used
ostensibly to keep the feathers waterproof. Some sources cormorant 7 cormorant
state that cormorants have waterproof feathers while others say that they have
water permeable feathers. cormorant 8 cormorant cormorant 9 cormorant Still
others suggest that the outer plumage absorbs water but does not permit it to
penetrate the layer of air next to the skin. cormorant 10 cormorant The wing
drying action is seen even in the flightless cormorant but commonly in the
Antarctic shags cormorant 11 cormorant and red-legged cormorants. Alternate
functions suggested for the spread-wing posture include that it aids
thermoregulation, cormorant 12 cormorant digestion, balances the bird or
indicates presence of fish. A detailed study of the great cormorant concludes
that it is without doubt cormorant 13 cormorant to dry the plumage. cormorant 14
cormorant cormorant 15 cormorant
Cormorants are colonial nesters, using trees, rocky islets, or cliffs. The eggs
are a chalky-blue colour. There is usually one brood a year. The young are fed
through regurgitation. They typically have deep, ungainly bills, showing a
greater resemblance to those of the pelicans, to which they are related, than is
obvious in the adults.
Systematics
The cormorants are a group traditionally placed within the Pelecaniformes or, in
the Sibley–Ahlquist taxonomy, the expanded Ciconiiformes. This latter group is
certainly not a natural one, and even after the tropicbirds have been recognised
as quite distinct, the remaining Pelecaniformes seem not to be entirely
monophyletic. Their relationships and delimitation – apart from being part of a
"higher waterfowl" clade which is similar but not identical to Sibley and
Ahlquist's "pan-Ciconiiformes" – remain mostly unresolved. Notwithstanding, all
evidence agrees that the cormorants and shags are closer to the darters and
Sulidae (gannets and boobies), and perhaps the pelicans or even penguins, than
to all other living birds. cormorant 16 cormorant
In recent years, three preferred treatments of the cormorant family have
emerged: either to leave all living cormorants in a single genus, Phalacrocorax,
or to split off a few species such as the imperial shag complex (in Leucocarbo)
and perhaps the flightless cormorant. Alternatively, the genus may be
disassembled altogether and in the most extreme case be reduced to the great,
white-breasted and Japanese cormorants. cormorant 17 cormorant
Pending a thorough review of the Recent and prehistoric cormorants, the
single-genus approach cormorant 18 cormorant is followed here for three reasons:
first, it is preferable to tentatively assigning genera without a robust
hypothesis. Second, it makes it easier to deal with the fossil forms, the
systematic treatment of which has been no less controversial than that of living
cormorants and shags. Third, this scheme is also used by the IUCN, cormorant 19
cormorant making it easier to incorporate data on status and conservation. In
accordance with the treatment there, the imperial shag complex is here left
unsplit as well, but the king shag complex has been.
Occipital crest or os nuchale in Phalacrocorax carbo
The cormorants and the darters have a unique bone on the back of the top of the
skull known as the os nuchale or occipital style which was called a xiphoid
process in early literature. This bony projection provides anchorage for the
muscles that increase the force with which the lower mandible is closed
cormorant 20 cormorant cormorant 21 cormorant and this bone and the highly
developed muscles over it, the M. adductor mandibulae caput nuchale are unique
to the families Phalacrocoracidae and Anhingidae. cormorant 22 cormorant
cormorant 23 cormorant
Several evolutionary groups are still recognizable. However, combining the
available evidence suggests that there has also been a great deal of convergent
evolution; for example the cliff shags are a convergent paraphyletic group. The
proposed division into Phalacrocorax sensu stricto (or subfamily "Phalacrocoracinae")
cormorants and Leucocarbo sensu lato (or "Leucocarboninae") shags cormorant 24
cormorant does indeed have some degree of merit. cormorant 25 cormorant The
resolution provided by the mtDNA 12S rRNA and ATPase subunits six and eight
sequence data cormorant 25 cormorant is not sufficient to properly resolve
several groups to satisfaction; in addition, many species remain unsampled, the
fossil record has not been integrated in the data, and the effects of
hybridisation – known in some Pacific species especially – on the DNA sequence
data are unstudied.
Species in HBW taxonomic sequence
Cormorant (species unknown) begins its dive
Immature Phalacrocorax atriceps albiventer
Phalacrocorax niger in Hyderabad, India
Guanay cormorant (Phalacrocorax bougainvillii) at Weltvogelpark Walsrode
This sequence follows the Handbook of the Birds of the World. cormorant 18
cormorant
Double-crested cormorant or white-crested cormorant, Phalacrocorax auritus
Neotropic cormorant or olivaceous cormorant, Phalacrocorax brasilianus (or
Phalacrocorax olivaceus)
Little black cormorant, Phalacrocorax sulcirostris
Great cormorant or black shag, Phalacrocorax carbo
White-breasted cormorant, Phalacrocorax lucidus
Indian cormorant, Phalacrocorax fuscicollis
Cape cormorant, Phalacrocorax capensis
Socotra cormorant, Phalacrocorax nigrogularis
Bank cormorant or Wahlberg's cormorant, Phalacrocorax neglectus
Japanese cormorant or Temminck's cormorant, Phalacrocorax capillatus
Brandt's cormorant, Phalacrocorax penicillatus
Spectacled cormorant, Phalacrocorax perspicillatus – extinct (c. 1850)
European shag or common shag, Phalacrocorax aristotelis
Pelagic cormorant or Baird's cormorant, Phalacrocorax pelagicus
Red-faced cormorant, Phalacrocorax urile
Rock shag, Phalacrocorax magellanicus
Australian pied cormorant or yellow-faced cormorant, Phalacrocorax varius
Black-faced cormorant, Phalacrocorax fuscescens
Red-legged cormorant or red-footed shag, Phalacrocorax gaimardi
Spotted shag Phalacrocorax punctatus
Pitt shag or Featherstone's shag Phalacrocorax featherstoni
Flightless cormorant, Phalacrocorax harrisi
Guanay cormorant, Leucocarbo bougainvillii
New Zealand king shag or rough-faced shag, Leucocarbo carunculatus
Otago shag or bronze shag, Leucocarbo chalconotus
Foveaux shag or bronze shag, Leucocarbo stewarti
Chatham shag, Leucocarbo onslowi
Auckland shag, Leucocarbo colensoi
Campbell shag, Leucocarbo campbelli
Bounty shag, Leucocarbo ranfurlyi
Imperial shag or blue-eyed shag, Leucocarbo atriceps
Antarctic shag, Leucocarbo bransfieldensis
South Georgia shag, Leucocarbo georgianus
Heard Island shag, Leucocarbo nivalis
Crozet shag, Leucocarbo melanogenis
Kerguelen shag, Leucocarbo verrucosus
Macquarie shag, Leucocarbo purpurascens
Little pied cormorant, Microcarbo melanoleucos
Reed cormorant or long-tailed cormorant, Microcarbo africanus
Crowned cormorant, Microcarbo coronatus
Little cormorant, Microcarbo niger
Pygmy cormorant, Microcarbo pygmaeus
Species in phylogenetic sequence
Little cormorant, Microcarbo niger
Red-legged cormorant (Phalacrocorax gaimardi)
This list attempts to follow a phylogenetic order. cormorant 26 cormorant If the
distinction into subfamilies would be upheld, the "blue-eyed" and related
species would probably be the "Leucocarboninae", and the groups that follow them
the "Phalacrocoracinae". The first two lineages (and possibly the flightless
cormorant) are basal and cannot be assigned to either subfamily.
Basal lineage 1: "microcormorants", genus Microcarbo or Halietor ("Phalacrocoracinae");
the former genus name would be valid
Small, short-billed subtropical to tropical marine and freshwater species from
the Old World and Australia. They have black feet and almost all lack
significant white feathers. They often have a diminutive frontal tuft.
Little pied cormorant, Microcarbo melanoleucos
Reed cormorant, Microcarbo africanus
Crowned cormorant, Microcarbo coronatus
Little cormorant, Microcarbo niger
Pygmy cormorant, Microcarbo pygmeus
Basal lineage 2: red-legged cormorant. Included in Leucocarbo or Stictocarbo ("Leucocarboninae")
Pacific coast of South America. This species apparently has no close living
relatives. It has a highly apomorphic colour pattern - naked red base of bill,
red feet, and a white neck spot -, and is crestless. It seems to be convergent
in some aspects with the punctatus superspecies ("Stictocarbo" proper). What
seems sure is that this species must be placed in a distinct monotypic genus
Poikilocarbo in almost any case, if any species are split from Phalacrocorax at
all. cormorant 27 cormorant
Red-legged cormorant, Phalacrocorax gaimardi
The double-crested cormorant's crests are normally not visible
Blue-eyed shags and relatives: variously placed in Euleucocarbo, Hypoleucos,
Leucocarbo, Notocarbo and Stictocarbo ("Leucocarboninae"), and the monotypic
Nannopterum.
This reasonably well-supported marine clade contains three lineages:
One containing American species which are mainly black-footed,
blackish-plumaged, and have yellow skin at the base of the bill as well as white
display crests behind the eyes in breeding plumage. They occur in marine and
freshwater habitats. The flightless cormorant of the Galápagos Islands also
seems to belong here. Its wings have been reduced by evolution to a tiny size,
it is extremely apomorphic due to its flightlessness, and its plumage is
entirely nondescript. If considered a distinct genus, they would get the name
Dilophalieus or (more probably) Nannopterum, the old genus of the flightless
cormorant.
The rock shag from southern South America with red skin at the bill base, pink
feet, a frontal crest, and an apomorphic white ear-spot
A group of numerous close-knit forms from southern Pacific and subantarctic
waters which are white below with pink feet but otherwise quite varying in
appearance. It contains the king and imperial complexes and the Guanay
cormorant. Almost all have some amount of white on the upperwing coverts,
frontal crests, and blue eye-rings. The crested shags with yellow warts in front
of the eyes belong to this group. The genus name Leucocarbo sometimes to this
group.
Double-crested cormorant or white-crested cormorant, Phalacrocorax auritus
Neotropic cormorant or olivaceous cormorant, Phalacrocorax brasilianus
Flightless cormorant, Phalacrocorax harrisi
Rock shag, Phalacrocorax magellanicus
The following are more accepted in the group:
Guanay cormorant, Leucocarbo bougainvillii
Imperial shag or blue-eyed shag, Leucocarbo atriceps
White-bellied shag, Leucocarbo albiventer
Antarctic shag, Leucocarbo bransfieldensis
South Georgia shag, Leucocarbo georgianus
Heard Island shag, Leucocarbo nivalis
Crozet shag, Leucocarbo melanogenis
Kerguelen shag, Leucocarbo verrucosus
Macquarie shag, Leucocarbo purpurascens
Guanay cormorant, Leucocarbo bougainvillii
Rough-faced shag or king shag, Leucocarbo carunculatus
Otago shag or bronze shag, Leucocarbo chalconotus
Foveaux shag or bronze shag, Leucocarbo stewarti
Chatham shag, Leucocarbo onslowi
Auckland shag, Leucocarbo colensoi
Campbell shag, Leucocarbo campbelli
Bounty shag, Leucocarbo ranfurlyi
Brandt's cormorant (Phalacrocorax penicillatus) – crestless, but with ornamental
plumes
North Pacific shags: spread between Compsohalieus ("Phalacrocoracinae") and
Stictocarbo ("Leucocarboninae"). If a distinct genus, the former name would
apply
A well-supported marine group ranging from the Bering Strait to California. They
are black-footed and have white ornamental plumes strewn about the head and neck
in breeding plumage. They tend to have prominent double crests.
Brandt's cormorant, Phalacrocorax penicillatus
Spectacled cormorant, Phalacrocorax perspicillatus – extinct (c. 1850)
Pelagic cormorant or Baird's cormorant, Phalacrocorax pelagicus
Red-faced cormorant, Phalacrocorax urile
Common shag lineage: formerly in Compsohalieus ("Phalacrocoracinae") and
Stictocarbo ("Leucocarboninae")
Black-footed smallish marine shags of Europe and southern Africa. The Bank
cormorant is very tentatively placed here; it seems anatomically more similar to
the P. fuscscens, but the more informative characters – the combination of
frontal crest and lack of extensive naked skin at bill base in mid-sized Old
World species – seem to place it here. If this is correct, they are probably
very distantly related due to biogeography.
European shag, Phalacrocorax aristotelis
Bank cormorant, Phalacrocorax neglectus – tentatively placed here cormorant 28
cormorant
Indian Ocean group: spread between Hypoleucos and Leucocarbo ("Leucocarboninae")
and Compsohalieus ("Phalacrocoracinae"). Hypoleucos would be the correct genus
name if they were split off.
Little black cormorant, Phalacrocorax sulcirostris
A group of black-footed species occurring in tropical coastal or inland habitat
between the Persian Gulf and Australia. Most species are tentatively assigned
here, based on the combination of range, crestlessness, size, general lack of
naked skin ornaments and the presence of some amount of white feathering in the
ear region at least in breeding plumage. This clade is not too well supported,
but this may be because the two presumed members included in recent research
cormorant 25 cormorant are quite dissimilar; the three unstudied ones are very
similar to one or the other. cormorant 18 cormorant
Little black cormorant, Phalacrocorax sulcirostris
Indian cormorant, Phalacrocorax fuscicollis – tentatively placed here
Socotra cormorant, Phalacrocorax nigrogularis – tentatively placed here
Australian pied cormorant or yellow-faced cormorant, Phalacrocorax varius
Black-faced cormorant, Phalacrocorax fuscescens – tentatively placed here
Spotted group: placed in Stictocarbo ("Leucocarboninae"); indeed, they would be
the only members of this possibly distinct genus
A superspecies of the New Zealand region. Peculiarly apomorphic, with yellowish
legs, prominent double crests, white ornamental plumes on the neck, a grey belly
and spotted wings.
Spotted shag Phalacrocorax punctatus
Pitt shag or Featherstone's shag Phalacrocorax featherstoni
Great cormorant drying its wings
Cape cormorant: sometimes placed in Leucocarbo ("Leucocarboninae")
Highly plesiomorphic among its relatives; a species from the southern coasts of
Africa. It is apparently close to the common ancestor of the next group and,
perhaps apart from the all-black plumage, looks almost identical to that
long-extinct bird.
Cape cormorant, Phalacrocorax capensis
True cormorants: these would be retained in Phalacrocorax no matter how the
cormorants and shags are split up
They occur from the western Atlantic through the Old World into Australia,
usually but not always in marine and temperate to subtropical habitat. They are
characteristic, being large, with white cheek and thigh patches, ornamental
plumes in the neck, a yellow naked bill base, black feet, and a shaggy nape
crest.
Great cormorant, Phalacrocorax carbo
White-breasted cormorant, Phalacrocorax lucidus
Japanese cormorant, Phalacrocorax capillatus
Evolution and fossil record
Cormorants seem to be a very ancient group, with similar ancestors reaching back
to the time of the dinosaurs. In fact, the earliest known modern bird, Gansus
yumenensis, had essentially the same structure. The details of the evolution of
the cormorant are mostly unknown. Even the technique of using the distribution
and relationships of a species to figure out where it came from, biogeography,
usually very informative, does not give very specific data for this probably
rather ancient and widespread group. However, the closest living relatives of
the cormorants and shags are the other families of the suborder Sulae—darters
and gannets and boobies—which have a primarily Gondwanan distribution. Hence, at
least the modern diversity of Sulae probably originated in the southern
hemisphere.
While the Leucocarbonines are almost certainly of southern Pacific
origin—possibly even the Antarctic which, at the time when cormorants evolved,
was not yet ice-covered—all that can be said about the Phalacrocoracines is that
they are most diverse in the regions bordering the Indian Ocean, but generally
occur over a large area.
Similarly, the origin of the family is shrouded in uncertainties. Some Late
Cretaceous fossils have been proposed to belong with the Phalacrocoracidae:
A scapula from the Campanian-Maastrichtian boundary, about 70 mya (million years
ago), was found in the Nemegt Formation in Mongolia; it is now in the PIN
collection. cormorant 29 cormorant It is from a bird roughly the size of a
spectacled cormorant, and quite similar to the corresponding bone in
Phalacrocorax. A Maastrichtian (Late Cretaceous, c. 66 mya) right femur, AMNH FR
25272 from the Lance Formation near Lance Creek, Wyoming, is sometimes suggested
to be the second-oldest record of the Phalacrocoracidae; this was from a rather
smaller bird, about the size of a long-tailed cormorant. cormorant 30 cormorant
As the Early Oligocene Sula" ronzoni cannot be assigned to any of the suloid
families—cormorants and shags, darters, and gannets and boobies—with certainty,
the best interpretation is that the Phalacrocoracidae diverged from their
closest ancestors in the Early Oligocene, perhaps some 30 million years ago, and
that the Cretaceous fossils represent ancestral suloids, "pelecaniforms" or
"higher waterbirds"; at least the last lineage is generally believed to have
been already distinct and undergoing evolutionary radiation at the end of the
Cretaceous. What can be said with near certainty is that AMNH FR 25272 is from a
diving bird that used its feet for underwater locomotion; as this is liable to
result in some degree of convergent evolution and the bone is missing
indisputable neornithine features, it is not entirely certain that the bone is
correctly referred to this group. cormorant 31 cormorant
During the late Paleogene, when the family presumably originated, much of
Eurasia was covered by shallow seas, as the Indian Plate finally attached to the
mainland. Lacking a detailed study, it may well be that the first "modern"
cormorants were small species from eastern, south-eastern or southern Asia,
possibly living in freshwater habitat, that dispersed due to tectonic events.
Such a scenario would account for the present-day distribution of cormorants and
shags and is not contradicted by the fossil record; as remarked above, a
thorough review of the problem is not yet available.
Double-crested cormorant
Two distinct genera of prehistoric cormorants are widely accepted today, if
Phalacrocorax is used for all living species:
Limicorallus (Indricotherium middle Oligocene of Chelkar-Teniz, Kazakhstan)
Nectornis (Late Oligocene/Early Miocene of Central Europe – Middle Miocene of
Bes-Konak, Turkey) – includes Oligocorax miocaenus
The proposed genus Oligocorax appears to be paraphyletic – the European species
have been separated in Nectornis, and the North American ones are placed in the
expanded Phalacrocorax. A Late Oligocene fossil cormorant foot from Enspel,
Germany, sometimes placed herein, would then be referable to Nectornis if it
proves not to be too distinct. All these early European species might belong to
the basal group of "microcormorants", as they conform with them in size and seem
to have inhabited the same habitat: subtropical coastal or inland waters.
Limicorallus, meanwhile, was initially believed to be a rail or a dabbling duck
by some. There are also undescribed remains of apparent cormorants from the
Quercy Phosphorites of Quercy (France), dating to some time between the Late
Eocene and the mid-Oligocene.
Some other Paleogene remains are sometimes assigned to the Phalacrocoracidae,
but these birds seem quite intermediate between cormorants and darters (and lack
clear autapomorphies of either). Thus, they may be quite basal members of the
Palacrocoracoidea. The taxa in question are:
Piscator (Late Eocene of England)
"Pelecaniformes" gen. et sp. indet. (Jebel Qatrani Early Oligocene of Fayum,
Egypt) – similar to Piscator?
Borvocarbo (Late Oligocene of C Europe)
The supposed Late Pliocene/Early Pleistocene "Valenticarbo" is a nomen dubium
and given its recent age probably not a separate genus.
The remaining species are, in accordance with the scheme used in this article,
all placed in the modern genus Phalacrocorax:
Phalacrocorax marinavis (Oligocene – Early Miocene of Oregon, US) – formerly
Oligocorax
Phalacrocorax littoralis (Late Oligocene/Early Miocene of St-Gérand-le-Puy,
France) – formerly Oligocorax, might belong into Nectornis
Phalacrocorax intermedius (Early – Middle Miocene of C Europe) – includes P.
praecarbo, Ardea/P. brunhuberi and Botaurites avitus
Phalacrocorax macropus (Early Miocene – Pliocene of north-west US)
Phalacrocorax ibericus (Late Miocene of Valles de Fuentiduena, Spain)
Phalacrocorax lautus (Late Miocene of Golboçica, Moldavia)
Phalacrocorax serdicensis (Late Miocene of Hrabarsko, Bulgaria)
Phalacrocorax femoralis (Modelo Late Miocene/Early Pliocene of WC North America)
– formerly Miocorax
Phalacrocorax sp. (Late Miocene/Early Pliocene of Lee Creek Mine, US)
Phalacrocorax longipes (Late Miocene – Early Pliocene of the Ukraine) – formerly
Pliocarbo
Phalacrocorax goletensis (Early Pliocene – Early Pleistocene of Mexico)
Phalacrocorax wetmorei (Bone Valley Early Pliocene of Florida)
Phalacrocorax sp. (Bone Valley Early Pliocene of Polk County, Florida, US)
cormorant 32 cormorant
Phalacrocorax leptopus (Juntura Early/Middle Pliocene of Juntura, Malheur
County, Oregon, US)
Phalacrocorax idahensis (Middle Pliocene – Pleistocene of Idaho, US)
Phalacrocorax destefanii cormorant verification needed cormorant (Late Pliocene
of Italy) – formerly Paracorax
Phalacrocorax filyawi (Pinecrest Late Pliocene of Florida, US) – may be P.
idahensis
Phalacrocorax kumeyaay (San Diego Late Pliocene of California, US)
Phalacrocorax macer (Late Pliocene of Idaho, US)
Phalacrocorax mongoliensis (Late Pliocene of W Mongolia)
Phalacrocorax rogersi (Late Pliocene – Early Pleistocene of California, US)
Phalacrocorax kennelli (San Diego Pliocene of California, US)
Phalacrocorax sp. "Wildhalm" cormorant verification needed cormorant (Pliocene)
– may be same as P. longipes cormorant 33 cormorant
Phalacrocorax chapalensis (Late Pliocene/Early Pleistocene of Jalisco, Mexico
Phalacrocorax gregorii (Late Pleistocene of Australia) – possibly not a valid
species
Phalacrocorax vetustus (Late Pleistocene of Australia) – formerly Australocorax,
possibly not a valid species
Phalacrocorax reliquus
Phalacrocorax sp. (Sarasota County, Florida, US) – may be P. filawyi/idahensis
The former "Phalacrocorax" (or "Oligocorax") mediterraneus is now considered to
belong to the bathornithid Paracrax antiqua. cormorant 34 cormorant "P."
subvolans was actually a darter (Anhinga).
In human culture
Cormorant fishing
Main article: Cormorant fishing
A Chinese fisherman with his two cormorants
Humans have used cormorants' fishing skills in various places in the world.
Archaeological evidence suggests that cormorant fishing was practiced in Ancient
Egypt, Peru, Korea and India, but the strongest tradition has remained in China
and Japan, where it reached commercial-scale level in some areas. cormorant 35
cormorant In Japan, cormorant fishing is called ukai (鵜飼). Traditional forms of
ukai can be seen on the Nagara River in the city of Gifu, Gifu Prefecture, where
cormorant fishing has continued uninterrupted for 1300 years, or in the city of
Inuyama, Aichi. In Guilin, China, cormorants are famous for fishing on the
shallow Lijiang River. In Gifu, the Japanese cormorant (P. capillatus) is used;
Chinese fishermen often employ great cormorants (P. carbo). cormorant 36
cormorant In Europe, a similar practice was also used on Doiran Lake in the
region of Macedonia. cormorant 37 cormorant
In a common technique, a snare is tied near the base of the bird's throat, which
allows the bird only to swallow small fish. When the bird captures and tries to
swallow a large fish, the fish is caught in the bird's throat. When the bird
returns to the fisherman's raft, the fisherman helps the bird to remove the fish
from its throat. The method is not as common today, since more efficient methods
of catching fish have been developed, but is still practiced as a cultural
tradition. cormorant 36 cormorant cormorant 35 cormorant
In folklore, literature, and art
Further information: Birds in culture
Cormorants catching Fish. Hanging silk scroll by Yūhi, Middle Edo period, Japan,
1755
Cormorant sculpture by Brian Fell on the Stone Jetty, Morecambe
Cormorants feature in heraldry and medieval ornamentation, usually in their
"wing-drying" pose, which was seen as representing the Christian cross, and
symbolizing nobility and sacrifice. For John Milton in Paradise Lost, the
cormorant symbolizes greed: perched atop the Tree of Life, Satan took the form
of a cormorant as he spied on Adam and Eve during his first intrusion into Eden.
cormorant 38 cormorant
In some Scandinavian areas, they are considered good omen; in particular, in
Norwegian tradition spirits of those lost at sea come to visit their loved ones
disguised as cormorants. cormorant 38 cormorant For example, the Norwegian
municipalities of Røst, Loppa and Skjervøy have cormorants in their coat of
arms. The symbolic liver bird of Liverpool is commonly thought to be a cross
between an eagle and a cormorant.
In 1853, a woman wearing a dress made of cormorant feathers was found on San
Nicolas Island, off the southern coast of California. She had sewn the feather
dress together using whale sinews. She is known as the Lone Woman of San Nicolas
and was later baptised "Juana Maria" (her original name is lost). The woman had
lived alone on the island for 18 years before being rescued. When removed from
San Nicolas, she brought with her a green cormorant dress she made; this dress
is reported to have been removed to the Vatican. cormorant citation needed
cormorant
The bird has inspired numerous writers, including Amy Clampitt, who wrote a poem
called "The Cormorant in its Element". The species she described may have been
the pelagic cormorant, which is the only species in the temperate U.S. with the
"slim head ... vermilion-strapped" and "big black feet" that she mentions.
cormorant citation needed cormorant
A cormorant representing Blanche Ingram appears in the first of the fictional
paintings by Jane in Charlotte Brontë's novel Jane Eyre. cormorant citation
needed cormorant
The cormorant served as the hood ornament for the Packard automobile brand.
cormorant 39 cormorant
Cormorants (and books about them written by a fictional ornithologist) are a
recurring fascination of the protagonist in Jesse Ball's 2018 novel Census.
European shag
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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European shag
Shag Phalacrocorax aristotelis.jpg
European shag on a rock
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)European shag 1European shag
Scientific classification edit
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Suliformes
Family: Phalacrocoracidae
Genus: Phalacrocorax
Species: P. aristotelis
Binomial name
Phalacrocorax aristotelis
(Linnaeus, 1761)
The European shag or common shag (Phalacrocorax aristotelis) is a species of
cormorant. It breeds around the rocky coasts of western and southern Europe,
southwest Asia and north Africa, mainly wintering in its breeding range except
for the northernmost birds. In Britain this seabird is usually referred to as
simply the shag.European shag 2European shag The scientific genus name is
Latinised Ancient Greek, from φαλακρός (phalakros, "bald") and κόραξ (korax,
"raven"). The species name aristotelis commemorates the Greek philosopher
Aristotle.European shag 3European shag
Young European shag in Croatia
On the nest in Deerness, Orkney
Contents
1 Description
2 Biology
3 Diet
4 Subspecies
5 Example locations
6 References
7 External links
Description
This is a medium-large black bird, 68 to 78 cm (27 to 31 in) long and with a
95-to-110-centimetre (37 to 43 in) wingspan. It has a longish tail and yellow
throat-patch. Adults have a small crest in the breeding season. It is
distinguished from the great cormorant by its smaller size, lighter build,
thinner bill, and, in breeding adults, by the crest and metallic green-tinged
sheen on the feathers. Among those differences are that a shag has a lighter,
narrower beak; and the juvenile shag has darker underparts. The European shag's
tail has 12 feathers, the great cormorant's 14 feathers. The green sheen on the
feathers results in the alternative name green cormorant sometimes being given
to the European shag.
Biology
Shag in flight
It feeds in the sea, and, unlike the great cormorant, is rare inland. It will
winter along any coast that is well-supplied with fish.
Eggs, Collection Museum Wiesbaden
The European shag is one of the deepest divers among the cormorant family. Using
depth gauges, European shags have been shown to dive to at least 45 m (148 ft).
European shags are preponderantly benthic feeders, i.e. they find their prey on
the sea bottom. They will eat a wide range of fish but their commonest prey is
the sand eel. Shags will travel many kilometres from their roosting sites in
order to feed.
In UK coastal waters, dive times are typically around 20 to 45 seconds, with a
recovery time of around 15 seconds between dives; this is consistent with
aerobic diving, i.e. the bird depends on the oxygen in its lungs and dissolved
in its bloodstream during the dive. When they dive, they jump out of the water
first to give extra impetus to the dive.
It breeds on coasts, nesting on rocky ledges or in crevices or small caves. The
nests are untidy heaps of rotting seaweed or twigs cemented together by the
bird's own guano. The nesting season is long, beginning in late February but
some nests not started until May or even later. Three eggs are laid. Their
chicks hatch without down and so they rely totally on their parents for warmth,
often for a period of two months before they can fly. Fledging may occur at any
time from early June to late August, exceptionally to mid-October.
Diet
The shag is a pursuit-diving seabird that feeds predominantly in benthic
habitats. Due to the relative ease with which diet samples can be collected from
this species (regurgitated food or pellets) and the perceived conflict between
the Phalacrocoracidae and fisheries, shag diet competition has been the subject
of substantial scientific interest.European shag 4European shag European shag
5European shag European shag 6European shag European shag 7European shag
Evidence collected at one colony, the Isle of May, Scotland, between 1985 and
2014, suggests that shag diet composition in this population has diversified in
response to ocean warming.European shag 8European shag Shags also feed on fewer
sandeel on windy days, presumably due to the strong effect of wind on flight in
this species.European shag 9European shag
Subspecies
There are three subspecies:European shag 10European shag
P. a. aristotelis – (Linnaeus, 1761): nominate, found in northwestern Europe
(Atlantic Ocean coasts)
P. a. desmarestii – (Payraudeau, 1826): found in southern Europe, southwest Asia
(Mediterranean and Black Sea coasts)
P. a. riggenbachi – Hartert, 1923: found in northwest African coast
The subspecies differ slightly in bill size and the breast and leg colour of
young birds. Recent evidence suggests that birds on the Atlantic coast of
southwest Europe are distinct from all three, and may be an as-yet undescribed
subspecies.European shag 11European shag
The name shag is also used in the Southern Hemisphere for several additional
species of cormorants.
Example locations
European shags in breeding plumage, Snæfellsnes, Iceland
The European shag can be readily be seen at the following breeding locations in
the season (late April to mid July): Saltee Islands, Ireland; Farne Islands,
England; Isle of May, Deerness and Fowlsheugh, Scotland; Runde, Norway; Iceland,
Faroe Islands and Galicia. In April 2017, eight new European shags were born in
Monaco.European shag 12European shag
The largest colony of European shags is in the Cíes Islands, Spain, with 2,500
pairs (25% of the world's population).
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