Little pied cormorant
Little pied cormorant | |
---|---|
in New South Wales | |
in Tasmania | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Suliformes |
Family: | Phalacrocoracidae |
Genus: | Microcarbo |
Species: | M. melanoleucos
|
Binomial name | |
Microcarbo melanoleucos (Vieillot, 1817)
| |
Range of the little pied cormorant | |
Synonyms | |
Phalacrocorax melanoleucos |
The little pied cormorant, little shag or kawaupaka (Microcarbo melanoleucos) is a common
Taxonomy
The
The little pied cormorant was originally described by French naturalist
In the now-extinct Waray language spoken along the Adelaide River in North Arnhem Land, the species was known as mawa.[4]
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 a small cormorant measuring 56–58 cm (22–23 in) with a shorter 3 cm (1.2 in) bill and longer tail than the little black cormorant; it has a small black crest. It is found in two morphs in New Zealand. Subspecies melanoleucos 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 much more common. In this form the entire plumage is black with a greenish tinge except for the sides of the head, chin, throat and upper neck; the bill is yellow with black on top. Intermediate forms are also found.[2]
The pied form is glossy black above with white face, underparts and thighs. The bill and bare skin around the face are yellow. In both forms the legs and feet are black.[5] The pied form is rare in New Zealand, and is most common there in Northland, where it makes up one in every four birds or so.[2]
Chicks have dark brown down, with pied morph having patches of paler down. Immature birds are a dull blackish brown, with pied morph birds having paler underparts.[2]
The little pied cormorant makes a low cooing during courtship.[2]
Similar species include the black-faced cormorant (slightly larger) and the Australian pied cormorant (substantially larger).[6]
Distribution and habitat
The species ranges across New Zealand, from Stewart Island to Northland,[2] and across mainland Australia (although not in the arid interior of the west of the country) and Tasmania. It is also present in Papua New Guinea, Palau, Timor-Leste, the Solomon Islands, New Caledonia, and Vanuatu. In eastern Indonesia, the little pied cormorant's range includes Sulawesi, the Lesser Sunda Islands, Maluku Islands, and Western New Guinea, with non-breeding birds recorded in Java, Bali, and once off the coast of East Kalimantan.[5] Widespread and common, it lives near bodies of water such as swamps, lakes, lagoons, estuaries and the coastline.[2][5]
Feeding
The little pied cormorant is a
Breeding
Breeding occurs once a year in spring or early summer in southern areas of its range (southern Australia and New Zealand), and after the monsoon in tropical regions. The
Gallery
-
Close-up of the head
-
Melanistic morph, New Zealand
-
An individual with a dark bill, atypical of little pied cormorants
-
Roosting, Tasmania
-
immature
References
- . Retrieved 11 November 2021.
- ^ ISBN 0-00-212022-4.
- ISBN 978-0-643-06511-6.
- ^ Harvey, Mark (1986). Ngoni Waray Amungal-Yang. Australian National University. p. 300.
- ^ ISBN 0-85179-102-6.
- ^ Marchant, S; Higgins, P J (1990). Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds. Vol. 1, Ratites to ducks. Melbourne: Oxford University Press.
- ISBN 0-646-42798-9.
- Johnsgaard, P. A. (1993). Cormorants, Darters and Pelicans of the World. Washington, D.C., Smithsonian Institution Press.