page_title: Spotted shag
section_title: Description
hierarchical_section_title: Spotted shag / Description
caption_attribution_description: Spotted Shag Phalacrocorax punctatus, juvenile wild bird
context_page_description: The spotted shag or pārekareka is a species of cormorant endemic to New Zealand. Though originally classified as Phalacrocorax punctatus, it is sufficiently different in appearance from typical members of that genus that for a time it was placed in a separate genus, Stictocarbo, along with a similar species, the Pitt shag. Subsequent genetic studies show that the spotted shag's lineage is nested within the typical shags.
context_section_description: The spotted shag is a medium-sized marine bird. They are usually between 64 and 74 centimetres (25 and 29 in) high and weigh between 700 and 1,200 grams (25 and 42 oz). Their bodies are very slim and they have a very distinctive black, decurved, double crest growing on their nape and their forehead. They have a long, slender, orange-brown coloured, hooked bill and yellow-orange feet. The feathers on their bodies are grey and blue. The adults have small black spots on their backs and wings, which gave them their name. Their irises are brown, while the ring around the iris is blue.  They have a small patch of bare facial skin between their eyes and bill, which turns green-blue just before breeding season. Furthermore, non-breeding adults do not have crests and have paler underparts. The males and females do look very alike, there is almost no sexual dimorphism. Sexual dimorphism means that the males and females of a species look different and can be easily told apart, which is not the case for the spotted shag. However, the males and females can be told apart by their calls and mating behavior. Normally they do not produce much noise, only when they are at resting, roosting and nesting areas. When they produce sounds, it can be heard as loud grunts.  Spotted shags usually fly in V-formation and it is hard to tell males and female apart. In flight, they look slender and pale, while their rump and tail look darker.
  It is hard to estimate the total number of spotted shags in New Zealand; estimates are between 10,000 and 50,000 breeding pairs (20,000 to 100,000 birds). In the past, the number of spotted shags has been limited by the availability of food, which caused an increase in number during the late 1980s.
caption: Juvenile, note spots on back and wings
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