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  Profile

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  In flight

Seabirds

European Shag

Gulosus aristotelis

• uncommon
• 45 km/h
• Least Concern

Dives to 61 meters for fish. Breeding plumage glows iridescent green with a jaunty forward-curling crest.

Population

~230,000-240,000 individuals (global, Wetlands International 2015 estimate underlying the BirdLife/IUCN assessment); note Animal Diversity Web cites a somewhat higher 260,000-290,000 figure — both are plausible order-of-magnitude estimates, not a contradiction

Habitat

Rocky sea coasts, cliffs, and islets, nesting on ledges, crevices, and small caves; almost exclusively marine and rarely found inland

Fun fact

The European shag is one of the deepest-diving cormorants, capable of plunging to depths of over 45 m (records to 61 m / 200 ft, confirmed via Wikipedia) while foraging almost entirely on the sea bottom.

Range

Coasts of western and southern Europe (from Iceland and northern Scandinavia south to the Iberian Peninsula), southwest Asia, and northwest Africa, including the Mediterranean and Black Sea; three recognized subspecies (G. a. aristotelis, G. a. desmarestii, G. a. riggenbachi) across this range

Diet

Fish, especially sand eels, taken by pursuit-diving to the sea bottom; also small amounts of molluscs, crustaceans, cephalopods, and marine worms

Size

0.73 m

Wingspan

1 m

Lifespan

12 years