Black Shag

A black shag with a glossy sheen perches gracefully on a slender branch, surrounded by vibrant greenery. Sunlight filters through the leaves, highlighting the bird's intricate feather patterns. The great cormorant, Phalacrocorax carbo, known as the black shag or kawau in New Zealand, formerly also known as the great black cormorant across the Northern Hemisphere, the black cormorant in Australia, and the large cormorant in India, is a widespread member of the cormorant family of seabirds. It breeds in much of the Old World, Australasia, and the Atlantic coast of North America and South America.