Shag (European Shag)
Phalacrocorax aristotelis
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Distribution Britain 386 (-5.5%) Ireland 123 (-14.0%)
Numbers breeding: Britain 37,500 Ireland 8,800 European status: 86,500 (55% in Britain and Ireland =1) British population trend: fluctuating How likely are you to record it? 15 squares (0.3%) Ranked 140= |
This smaller cousin of the Cormorant is very much more a seabird and another colonial sea-cliff nester. It was widely persecuted as a fish-eater and for sport in the 19th century and increased this century as the killing diminished. The birds colonised the East Coast after they were virtually extinguished from England and became uncommon south of Caithness. And there may now be as many as 5,000 pairs along the North Sea coast of mainland Britain in a good year. It has been calculated that this increase averages about 10% per year for most of this century. However all is not well all the time as the population is liable to rather violent fluctuations and these may be becoming more frequent. One of these, affecting the Farne Islands (Northumbria) birds some 30 years ago, was tied to toxins produced by plankton — a so-called 'red tide' — but others are of unknown origin. For instance a very large proportion of the Isle of May breeding birds went missing over the winter of 1998/99. These events seem to be mostly restricted to the North Sea populations so their overall seriousness, for Shags over the whole of Britain and Ireland, may not be so important. Population fluctuations cast a shadow over this species' future prospects.
The following Bird On! sketch is available:
Shag
From
The
State of the Nations Birds
Copyright © 2000 by Chris Mead