About Phalacrocorax aristotelis (Linnaeus, 1761)
This is a medium-large black bird, 68 to 78 cm (27 to 31 in) long, with a wingspan of 95 to 110 centimetres (37 to 43 in). It has a fairly long tail and a yellow throat patch. Adult individuals grow a small crest during the breeding season. It can be told apart from the great cormorant by its smaller size, lighter build, and thinner bill; breeding adults also have the distinguishing crest and a metallic green-tinged sheen on their feathers. Juvenile European shags have darker underparts than juvenile great cormorants. The European shag’s tail has 12 tail feathers, while the great cormorant’s tail has 14. The green sheen on this species’ feathers gives it the alternative common name green cormorant. During the breeding season, which runs from late April to mid-July, European shags are easily found at specific locations: Saltee Islands, Ireland; Farne Islands and Isles of Scilly, England; Isle of May, Deerness and Fowlsheugh, Scotland; Runde, Norway; Iceland; Denmark; Faroe Islands; Galicia, Northern Spain; and Dalmatia and Istria, Croatia. In April 2017, eight new European shag chicks hatched in Monaco. In 2015, the British population of the species numbered 18,000 breeding pairs. The largest known colony of European shags is located in the Cíes Islands, Spain, holding 2,500 breeding pairs.
