Little pied cormorant
| Little Pied Cormorant | |
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| P. melanoleucos | |
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| Species: | P. melanoleucos
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| Binomial name | |
| Microcarbo melanoleucos (Vieillot, 1817)
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Phalacrocorax melanoleucos Anhinga parva | |
The Little Pied Cormorant, Little Shag or Kawaupaka (Microcarbo melanoleucos) is a common Australasian waterbird, found around the coasts, islands, estuaries, and inland waters of Australia, New Guinea, New Zealand, Malaysia, and Indonesia, and around the islands of the south-western Pacific and the sub-Antarctic.
Taxonomy
The Little Pied Cormorant was originally described by French naturalist Louis Jean Pierre Vieillot in 1817. In 1931, Peters was the first to consider this in a separate genus along with the Pygmy Cormorant (M. pygmaeus), Little Cormorant (M. niger), and the Long-tailed Cormorant (M. africanus). Since then, molecular work by Sibley and Ahlquist showed the Little Pied and Long-tailed Cormorants formed a group which had diverged early on from other cormorants. This group of "micro-cormorants" assumed the genus name Microcarbo, initially described by Bonaparte in 1855.[1]
Three subspecies are commonly recognised:
- M. m. melanoleucos. Resident throughout the species range except in New Zealand and the sub-Antarctic islands
- M. m. brevicauda Mayr 1931. Endemic to Rennell Island, in the Solomon Islands
- M. m. brevirostris Gould 1837 (Little Shag). Resident throughout New Zealand and regularly seen on sub-Antarctic islands; has bred on Campbell Island. Some authorities treat this form as a distinct species, P. brevirostris.
Description
The Little Pied Cormorant is found in two morphs. Subspecies melanoleucus and brevicauda are found only in a pied morph, black (with a slight green tinge) above and white beneath. This is also found in subspecies brevirostris, but in this form the melanistic morph is more common. In this form the entire plumage is black with a greenish tinge excepts for a the sides of the head, chin, throat and upper neck. Intermediate forms are also found.
Feeding
The Little Pied Cormorant is a benthic feeder, i.e. it finds its prey on the sea floor. It is a solitary feeder, normally diving in relatively shallow water, often near the shore. Dive times are short, around 15 to 20 seconds, with recovery times on the surface of 5 to 10 seconds unless prey are being swallowed. It takes a variety of fish prey but an unusually high proportion (nearly 30% by weight on average, and up to 80% in some individuals of crustaceans). In New Zealand waters it is most often seen preying on the local flounder and other small flatfish. These are brought to the surface to be swallowed: the bird will sometimes put a fish down on the surface of the water in order to re-orient it and swallow it head first. Because of this habit, they suffer some kleptoparasitism from Red-billed Gulls.
Gallery
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Wind drying -
Little Shag "Phalacrocorax melanoleucos in Taranaki, New Zealand
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A flock of Little Pied Cormorants, Tasmania.
References
- ^ Christidis L, Boles WE (2008). Systematics and Taxonomy of Australian Birds. Canberra: CSIRO Publishing. pp. p. 103. ISBN 9780643065116.
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- Template:IUCN2006 Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern
- Johnsgaard, P. A. (1993). Cormorants, darters and pelicans of the world. Washington DC, Smithsonian Institution Press.
