Little Pied Cormorant/Little Shag Microcarbo melanoleucos

The Little Pied Cormorant, also called the Little Shag, is native to Australasia. As its name indicates, it is much smaller than other cormorants and has a much shorter beak. The names Cormorant or Shag are sometimes interchangeable; in the past "Shag" was applied to a Cormorant with a crest (or double crest) but currently is usually applied to small cormorant species.

Usual black and white (pied) plumage is shown in the pictures above and immediately below. Those above are the nominal sub-species from Australian coasts and the Indonesian/Pacific islands.

Pictures above and immediately below are the shorter-billed New Zealand sub-species M. m. brevirostris sometimes treated as a separate species M. brevirostris.

The photos above show the black body and white face (white-throated form) common, together with the usual form, in New Zealand where these were taken. Juveniles are completely dark.

Nominal subspecies