Campbell Islands Shag Leucocarbo campbelli Scientific name definitions

63 cm; 1600–2000 g; wingspan 105 cm. Adult  has rather long crest on crown, head  and upperparts including outer sides of thighs black with bluish gloss, greener on head , can have a few scattered hair-like white plumes on sides of head, gloss more bronzy green on wings, with variable but often reduced (and sometimes absent) white bar on lesser coverts; underwing blackish; tail duller blackish with reduced white at base of shafts; chin and throat white  , sharply contrasting with glossy black neck, white breast to undertail-coverts, narrow on foreneck, and black of sides can meet on lower throat or central foreneck; non-breeder  duller blackish, lacks white filoplumes and crest much reduced or lacking, bare parts on face less rich in colour. Iris dark grey; bare facial skin over most of face fuscous, eyering violet, warty yellow line at base of maxilla, orange-red to dusky red bare skin below gape and on gular pouch, non-breeder has skin below gape and gular pouch much duskier, eyering also duller; reddish-fuscous to blackish facial skin over most of face including eyering, more reddish next to forehead and near gape, bare red skin at base of mandible below gape; bill brownish grey to grey-black with horn tip, yellow at very base of mandible; legs mostly pale pink with variable dark greyish tones. Sexes similar. Juvenile has much smaller crest, dark areas dark greyish brown rather than glossy black, darkest on rear upperparts and thighs, wing-coverts and remiges more pointed, secondary coverts and outer scapulars with paler fringes, iris brownish grey, bare facial skin duller, more fleshy at base of bill; next plumage intermediate, more blackish. Very like L. colensoi, but adult separated by black foreneck including lower part, by dark, not bright, eyering, and bill tends to be thinner; colours of facial skin and white bar on upperwing help separation from slightly larger L. magellanicus and much slimmer L. bougainvilliorum, which also has more white on lower foreneck.

Sometimes placed in Phalacrocorax or Euleucocarbo, but classification here follows results of a comprehensive molecular phylogeny for the entire family (1 Kennedy, M. and Spencer, H.G. (2014). Classification of the cormorants of the world. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 79: 249–257. Close ). In past, often considered to include L. ranfurlyi and L. colensoi; these three were sometimes treated as conspecific with L. carunculatus complex (carunculatus, chalconotus and onslowi), all thus being listed as races of L. carunculatus. Monotypic.

Restricted to Campbell I and adjacent offshore islands, S of New Zealand.

Little information. Male emits barking “korr-korr” calls during courtship.

Season not well known, possibly starting in Aug/Sept and lasting until Dec. Solitary or in small to medium-sized colonies of up to c. 150 nests; colonies sometimes mixed with gulls or terns. Nest  mostly of tussock grass, with some other plant matter and debris, placed on narrow cliff ledge, in recess or cave in cliff, or sometimes on flattish ground or among tussocks. Clutch presumably 2–3 eggs; chick naked, grows grey down  . Oldest known individual lived for more than 13 years. No other information.

VULNERABLE. Has very small breeding range, confined to a single island; population trends unknown, assumed to be more or less stable. Total population estimated at c. 2000 breeding pairs (and 8000 individuals) in 1975; BirdLife summary suggests that breeding-census figures may understate the true numbers, as breeding season may be quite extended and possibly not synchronous, and number of individuals may be a better reflection of breeding population. Several species of mammal introduced on Campbell I, including brown rat (Rattus norvegicus) and cats, but these appear not to have any real effects on present species; recent observations suggest that feral cats may have died out on the island, and rats were recently eradicated from Campbell. In the past, cattle and sheep may have restricted possible expansion of some colonies. Native Brown Skua (Catharacta antarctica lonnbergi) takes some eggs of this cormorant. This species’ tiny global range renders it susceptible to stochastic effects and human impacts. Campbell I group is a nature reserve, and in 1998 was declared part of a World Heritage Site.