The Great Cormorant

The Great Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo), known as the black shag in New Zealand and formerly also known as the great black cormorant across the Northern Hemisphere, the black cormorant in Australia, and the large cormorant in India, is a widespread member of the cormorant family of seabirds. It breeds in much of the old world, Australia, and the Atlantic coast of North America.

They are tied as the second largest extant species of cormorant after the flightless cormorant, with the Japanese cormorant averaging a similar size. It has a golden throat patch and a somewhat lengthy tail. During the breeding season, adults have white spots on their thighs and throat. It can be identified from the common shag in European seas by its greater size, heavier bulk, thicker bill, absence of a crest, and lack of any green tinge to its plumage. Although they are largely silent, great cormorants occasionally make a variety of guttural noises around their nesting colonies.