Pied Shag Bird Picture Kaikoura New Zealand

Atop a rock on the Kaikoura Peninsula on the South Island of New Zealand, a bird known as the Pied Shag stands quietly as we snap his picture.

Not far from the seal colony that resides on the Kaikoura Peninsula on the South Island of New Zealand, a Pied Shag decides to take a break and rest atop a rock. Surrounded by water with seaweed swaying in the rippling water, this bird is usually found around the coastal areas where breeding takes place in and around the Kaikoura Peninsula.

This type of bird loves to hang around on the rocks as this is where they dry their wings under the brilliant New Zealand sun. They search for their food, which usually consists of flounder, crab or mullet, in the shallow coastal waters around the Kaikoura Peninsula.

From this picture, you can see that the Pied Shag is a larger sized bird with black coloring running along its backside and white adorning its chest and head. Long necks and a hooked beak make it easy for the Pied Shag to trap their food amongst the rocks giving the smaller animals no leeway to escape.

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Capturing a picture of a Pied Shag along the coastline of the Kaikoura Peninsula in New Zealand can be fairly simple as they are commonly seen within a kilometer of the shore, a true coastal bird. The Pied Shag has been protected over the years which seems to have made a huge impact on this species of bird as the numbers seen off the coastline of the Kaikoura Peninsula have increased dramatically.

The markings on the Pied Shag are very distinct making them extremely easy to recognize while you explore the Kaikoura Peninsula coastline on your vacation to New Zealand.

Pied Shag, Phalacrocorax varius varius, near the Seal Colony on the Kaikoura Peninsula, Kaikoura, East Coast, South Island, New Zealand.