Blue-eyed shag

Leucocarbo is a genus of birds in the family Phalacrocoracidae with the members commonly known as blue-eyed shags. This is a group of closely related cormorant taxa. Many have a blue, purple or red ring around the eye (not a blue iris); other shared features are white underparts (at least in some individuals) and pink feet.[1]

Blue-eyed shags
South Georgia shag
Phalacrocorax georgianus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Suliformes
Family: Phalacrocoracidae
Genus: Leucocarbo
Bonaparte, 1856
Species

see text

Synonyms

Phalacrocorax (in part)
Euleucocarbo
Halietor
Hypoleucos
Leucocarbo
Notocarbo
Stictocarbo

They are found around the colder parts of the Southern Hemisphere, especially near southern South America, Antarctica, and New Zealand. Many are endemic to remote islands. Determining which types are species and which are subspecies of what larger species is problematic; various recent authorities have recognized from 8 to 14 species and have placed them in a variety of genera. The common names are even more confusing, "like myriad footprints criss-crossing in the snow and about as easy to disentangle." Only one common name is given for most species here.[1]

The genus contains 15 species:[2]

Leucocarbo could be expanded by several American species (including the flightless cormorant and rock shag).[3]

References

  1. Nelson, J. Bryan (2006). Pelicans, Cormorants, and Their Relatives: The Pelecaniformes. Oxford University Press, U.S.A. pp. 476–511, Plate 8. ISBN 978-0-19-857727-0.
  2. Gill, Frank; Donsker, David, eds. (2019). "Hamerkop, Shoebill, pelicans, boobies, cormorants". World Bird List Version 9.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 12 April 2019.
  3. Kennedy, M.; Gray, R.D.; Spencer, H.G. (2000). "The phylogenetic relationships of the shags and cormorants: Can sequence data resolve a disagreement between behavior and morphology?" (PDF). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 17 (3): 345–359. doi:10.1006/mpev.2000.0840. PMID 11133189. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-05-06. Retrieved 2019-10-18.

Further reading

  • Kennedy, M.; Spencer, H.G. (2014). "Classification of the cormorants of the world". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 79: 249–257. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2014.06.020. PMID 24994028.
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