K A W A U T I K I T I K I
Identifying sea birds, particularly cormorants can be a tricky game! For me anyway.
Pandas and polar bears are different but both are clearly bea...
Read more
Identifying sea birds, particularly cormorants can be a tricky game! For me anyway.
Pandas and polar bears are different but both are clearly bears and fortunately easy to tell apart. Young and cute polar bears look like their not so cute and and not so cuddly parents. Fox cubs look like adult foxes and tiny little giraffes basically look like bloody big giraffes, but smaller!
The "Mini me" identity thing might work for most mammals but it's not necessarily the case for birds and it definitely isn't the case for cormorants. Each species of cormorant-shag can have at least three types of plumage (basic, mature and alternate) during its life span. To put it simply; at any time during a cormorant's life, it can look different to what it has been and what it will be.
There are 12 species of shag-cormorant found in New Zealand. I photographed this particularly striking one at Aramoana on the entrance to Otago's massive natural harbour.
After failing to get a book-online ID on the bird I gave up and went to see the sea bird experts at The Royal Albatross Centre Dunedin to ask for help. Within an hour we had a positive ID! Yay!
It's a juvenile spotted shag (AKA blue shag AKA kawau tikitki in Māori).
Read less
Pandas and polar bears are different but both are clearly bears and fortunately easy to tell apart. Young and cute polar bears look like their not so cute and and not so cuddly parents. Fox cubs look like adult foxes and tiny little giraffes basically look like bloody big giraffes, but smaller!
The "Mini me" identity thing might work for most mammals but it's not necessarily the case for birds and it definitely isn't the case for cormorants. Each species of cormorant-shag can have at least three types of plumage (basic, mature and alternate) during its life span. To put it simply; at any time during a cormorant's life, it can look different to what it has been and what it will be.
There are 12 species of shag-cormorant found in New Zealand. I photographed this particularly striking one at Aramoana on the entrance to Otago's massive natural harbour.
After failing to get a book-online ID on the bird I gave up and went to see the sea bird experts at The Royal Albatross Centre Dunedin to ask for help. Within an hour we had a positive ID! Yay!
It's a juvenile spotted shag (AKA blue shag AKA kawau tikitki in Māori).
Read less
Jun, 2020Views
19
Likes
Awards
Peer Award
Absolute Masterpiece
Top Ranks
Top 30 rank week 2Categories
Same photographer See all
Discover more photos See all
