Imperial Shag
Photo: Phalacrocorax_atriceps.jpg: Calyponte derivative work: Berichard (talk) · CC BY 3.0

Cormorants and Shags

Imperial Shag

Leucocarbo atriceps

NENot Evaluated
Family
Cormorants and Shags (Phalacrocoracidae)
Order
Suliformes

Overview

The imperial shag or imperial cormorant (Leucocarbo atriceps) is a black-and-white cormorant native to southern South America, islands of the Subantarctic, and the Antarctic Peninsula, primarily in rocky coastal regions, but locally also at large inland lakes. Some taxonomic authorities, including the International Ornithologists' Union, place it in the genus Leucocarbo, others in the genus Phalacrocorax. It is also known as the blue-eyed shag, blue-eyed cormorant and by many other names, and is one of a larger group of cormorants called blue-eyed shags. The taxonomy is complex, and several types are treated as either subspecies or separate species.

Summary from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Range and habitat

Sources and further reading

Last updated September 29, 2026.