New Zealand: Pied shag

On February 20th along Moa Point Rd. in the southern part of Wellington, on a rock in the sea I spied this Phalacrocorax varius, known natively as kāruhiruhi and in English as a pied shag, which is a type of cormorant. From what I’ve read, pied shags aren’t too skittish around people, and this one stayed put as I gradually approached. It might well have let me get even closer, but by the time I took this picture I’d already made my way forward across all the rocks I could, and getting any nearer would have meant getting wet.

For information about pied shags beyond what the first link provided, here’s a second.

© 2015 Steven Schwartzman