Imperial Shag

About the Imperial Shag

The imperial shag or imperial cormorant (Leucocarbo atriceps) is a black-and-white cormorant native to southern South America, islands of the Subantarctic, and the Antarctic Peninsula, primarily in rocky coastal regions, but locally also at large inland lakes. Some taxonomic authorities, including the International Ornithologists' Union, place it in the genus Leucocarbo, others in the genus Phalacrocorax. It is also known as the blue-eyed shag, blue-eyed cormorant and by many other names, and is one of a larger group of cormorants called blue-eyed shags. The taxonomy is complex, and several types are treated as either subspecies or separate species.

The imperial shag was formally described in 1828 by the Royal Navy officer Phillip Parker King based on a specimen that he had collected in the Strait of Magellan of southern Chile. He placed the species in the genus Phalacrocorax and coined the binomial name Phalacrocorax atriceps, where the specific epithet combines the Latin ater meaning "black" with -ceps meaning "-capped" or "-headed". The imperial shag was formerly usually retained in the genus Phalacrocorax, but has also sometimes been placed in its own genus Notocarbo... Wikipedia →