Seabirds around fishing vessels

Spotted shag

Phalacrocorax punctatus

Two subspecies of spotted shags are recognised in New Zealand. One subspecies breeds in Hauraki Gulf, on the Waikato coast and on Wellington islands (Phalacrocorax punctatus punctatus). The other one breeds on and around Stewart Island (P. p. oliveri). The breeding population of spotted shags is estimated at around 30,000 pairs. However, its coastal habit means that the spotted shag is rarely seen during bird counts conducted from fishing vessels.

Phalacrocorax punctatus
CC-BY, Dragonfly Science

Mean number of spotted shag recorded around fishing vessels during counts carried out by government observers, binned to 0.4 degree of longitude and latitude. The size of the circle indicates the number of observations, whereas the colour indicates the mean number of birds recorded during counts. Empty circles indicate that no birds were observed. The grey areas indicate water depths of less than 1000 m.

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