Spotted Shag
Phalacrocorax punctatus
- Least concern
- Card rarity: Common
- Birds
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.
Classification
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Suliformes
- Family
- Phalacrocoracidae
- Genus
- Phalacrocorax