Pied Shag - Port Chalmers

This little guy is always thinking of food, diving and ducking for lunch. There are a variety of threats to pied shags. They were formerly occasionally shot by...
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This little guy is always thinking of food, diving and ducking for lunch. There are a variety of threats to pied shags. They were formerly occasionally shot by fishers who considered that they competed for fish; probably few pied shags are shot these days. Pied shags have drowned in craypots, set-nets and on inshore longlines. Some birds have been affected by oil spills, including following the grounding of the container ship Rena off Tauranga in October 2011. During the recent population expansion in central New Zealand, pied shags have established colonies in trees adjacent to peoples’ homes. The noise and smell of such colonies has resulted in a few nesting trees being felled. It is unknown whether changes in prey abundance as a result of commercial fishing or climate change, has impacted, positively or negatively, on the pied shag.
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