Leucocarbo atriceps
Silhouette: Edwin Price · PhyloPic
In 3 days >90%
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.
The imperial shag was formally described in 1828 by the Royal Navy officer Phillip Parker King based on a specimen that he had collected in the Strait of Magellan of southern Chile. He placed the species in the genus Phalacrocorax and coined the binomial name Phalacrocorax atriceps, where the specific epithet combines the Latin ater meaning "black" with -ceps meaning "-capped" or "-headed". The imperial shag was formerly usually retained in the genus Phalacrocorax, but has also sometimes been placed in its own genus Notocarbo...
Call0:43
United Kingdom · 2013
© Michele Peron · XC187942 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands | 🇬🇸 South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands | |
| 2 | Antarctic Peninsula & South Shetland Islands | 🇦🇶 Antarctica | |
| 3 | Falkland Islands | 🇫🇰 Falkland Islands | |
| 4 | Península Valdés | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 5 | Tierra del Fuego National Park | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 6 | Nahuel Huapi National Park | 🇦🇷 Argentina |
No species of the same family or order lives in Antarctic Peninsula & South Shetland Islands, so these are its closest relatives here: other birds.
Very likely
About 80% of wildlife watchers report an Imperial Shag sighting in Antarctic Peninsula & South Shetland Islands on a given day, based on 2,489 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 6th most-seen of the 29 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
October
In that month about 90% of wildlife watchers report an Imperial Shag in Antarctic Peninsula & South Shetland Islands on a given day, against about 80% in November to March, the lowest months. April to September have too few records to rate.
Between 2 and 5 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Imperial Shag sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
2nd of 6
Of the 6 parks where we can rate Imperial Shag sightings, Antarctic Peninsula & South Shetland Islands ranks 2nd at about 80%. The best odds are in South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, about 90%). All parks ranked.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Imperial Shag is recorded against all the birds logged in Antarctic Peninsula & South Shetland Islands (2,489 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
