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) | |
%E2%80%93South_Georgia_Shag_(Leucocarbo_georgianus).jpg)
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]
- Guanay cormorant, Leucocarbo bougainvillii
- Imperial shag or blue-eyed shag, Leucocarbo atriceps
- South Georgia shag, Leucocarbo georgianus
- Antarctic shag, Leucocarbo bransfieldensis
- Heard Island shag, Leucocarbo nivalis
- Crozet shag, Leucocarbo melanogenis
- Macquarie shag, Leucocarbo purpurascens
- Kerguelen shag, Leucocarbo verrucosus
- New Zealand king shag or rough-faced shag, Leucocarbo carunculatus
- Otago shag, Leucocarbo chalconotus
- Foveaux shag, Leucocarbo stewarti
- Chatham shag, Leucocarbo onslowi
- Campbell shag, Leucocarbo campbelli
- Auckland shag, Leucocarbo colensoi
- Bounty shag, Leucocarbo ranfurlyi
Leucocarbo could be expanded by several American species (including the flightless cormorant and rock shag).[3]
References
- 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.
- Gill, Frank; Donsker, David, eds. (2019). "Hamerkop, Shoebill, pelicans, boobies, cormorants". World Bird List Version 9.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 12 April 2019.
- 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.