Kawau Tūī | Little Black Shag

Two black shags by the river.
Two Kawau Tūī | Little Black Shags by the river. Photo by Marion Cherry. Used with permission.

There is a colony of Pied Shags just upstream of the footbridge but one day I thought I saw an all-black shag fly past me. This was recently confirmed by Marion Cherry, who kindly sent the photo above of two Kawau Tūī | Little black shags:

Length: 61 cm; Weight: 800 g

Similar species: Little shag, Black shag

A medium-sized shag of coastal and inland waters with all-black plumage, dark facial skin, a thin black bill and black feet. The distinctive iris is much brighter green eye than other shag species.

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