Birds in Focus - Cormorant and Shag

Superficially Cormorants and Shags are quite similar-looking birds which can be difficult to tell apart, especially from a distance or in poor light.  However, they each have characteristic features which can be used in identification.

Cormorant drying wings

Shag showing crest

The Cormorant is a large and conspicuous waterbird which has an almost primitive appearance with its long neck making it appear almost reptilian. It is often seen standing with its wings held out to dry. Regarded by some as black, sinister and greedy, cormorants are supreme fishers which can bring them into conflict with anglers and they have been persecuted in the past. The UK holds internationally important wintering numbers.
 

Cormorants are found around the UK coastline on rocky shores, coastal lagoons and estuaries, it is increasingly being seen inland at reservoirs, lakes and gravel pits. They can be seen all year round and they eat fish.

Cormorant (adult)

• Size: bigger than mallard
• Feather colours: brown, black, white
• Beak colours: black/dark grey, yellow
• Beak length: long
• Beak thickness: long
• Beak shape: long
• Leg colour: black/grey, brown
• Behaviour: part of flock, dives underwater

Cormorant (juvenile)

• Colouring: Juvenile
• Size: bigger than mallard
• Feather colours: brown, white, grey
• Beak colours: black/dark grey, yellow
• Beak length: long
• Beak thickness: long
• Beak shape: long
• Leg colour: black/grey, brown
• Behaviour: part of flock, dives underwater

The Shag is a goose-sized dark long-necked birds similar to cormorants but smaller and generally slimmer with a characteristic steep forehead. In the breeding season adults develop a dark glossy green plumage and prominent recurved crest on the front of their head. In the UK they breed on coastal sites, mainly in the north and west, and over half their population is found at fewer than 10 sites, making them an Amber List species. Shags usually stay within 100-200km of their breeding grounds.
 

During the breeding season Shags can be seen at their large Scottish colonies on Orkney, Shetland, the Inner Hebrides and the Firth of Forth. Elsewhere they can be seen commonly around the coasts of Wales and South West England (especially Devon and Cornwall).
 

They can be seen all year round and they eat fish and occasionally crustacea and molluscs.
 

Shag (adult)

• Size: bigger than mallard
• Feather colours: brown, black, green
• Beak colours: black/dark grey, yellow
• Beak length: long
• Beak thickness: long
• Beak shape: long
• Leg colour: black/grey, brown
• Behaviour: part of flock, dives underwater

Shag (juvenile)

• Colouring: Juvenile
• Size: bigger than mallard
• Feather colours: brown, black, white, green
• Beak colours: black/dark grey, yellow
• Beak length: long
• Beak thickness: long
• Beak shape: long
• Leg colour: black/grey, brown
• Behaviour: part of flock, dives underwater