South Georgia shag

Scientific classification
Kingdom Information
Domain |  Eukaryota
Kingdom |  Animalia
Subkingdom |  Bilateria
Branch |  Deuterostomia
Phylum Information
Phylum |  Chordata
Sub-phylum |  Vertebrata
Infraphylum |  Gnathostomata
Class Information
Superclass |  Tetrapoda
Class |  Aves
Sub-class |  Neornithes
Order Information
Order |  Suliformes
Family Information
Family |  Phalacrocoracidae
Genus Information
Genus |  Leucocarbo
Species Information
Species |  L. georgianus
Synonyms |  Phalacrocorax georgianus
Population statistics

The South Georgia shag (Leucocarbo georgianus) is a species of cormorant of the family Phalacrocoracidae, and native to several sub-Antarctica islands in the south Atlantic Ocean. One of the 12 species of "blue-eyed" shags - so-called due to a distinctive blue ring of skin around each eye - it is considered by some authorities to be a subspecies of the imperial shag (Leucocarbo atriceps), despite an uncertain classification[1].

## Description[edit]

The South Georgia shag is medium-sized, about 29.5 inches in length. Males are larger than females. The undersides are white from the chin and throat to the lower belly. Upper plumage is black with a slight bluish or green-bronze tinge, and a single white horizontal bar on the upper wing coverts. A slight tuft of feathers on the head gives it a crest; a small mass of yellow-orange, warty caruncles at the base of the upper beak and the blue eye ring are the only other colors.

## Range and habitat[edit]

The South Georgia shag is found in the south Atlantic Ocean at the islands of South Georgia, the South Sandwich archipelago, South Orkney, and Shag Rocks. It is found on cliff faces, rocky areas, and tussock grass slopes. An inshore feeder, it is never more than a few miles away from these islands

## References[edit]

1. ↑ https://s3.amazonaws.com/academia.edu.documents/46616792/Classification_of_the_Cormorants_of_the_20160619-12357-k11qld.pdf?response-content-disposition=inline; filename=Classification_of_the_cormorants_of_the.pdf&X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Credential=AKIAIWOWYYGZ2Y53UL3A/20191231/us-east-1/s3/aws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20191231T211059Z&X-Amz-Expires=3600&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Signature=b1172308c8a1c93691625cefed997ac8d6d6db78ee967cc32869cd55ebb7102e