Microcarbo melanoleucos
Silhouette: L. Shyamal · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~80% in a week >90%
The little pied cormorant, little shag or little pied shag (Microcarbo melanoleucos) (Māori: kawaupaka) is a common species of Australasian waterbird, found around the coasts, islands, estuaries, and inland waters of Australia, New Guinea, New Zealand, Timor-Leste and Indonesia, and around the islands of the south-western Pacific and the subantarctic. It is a small short-billed cormorant usually black above and white below with a yellow bill and small crest, although a mostly black white-throated form predominates in New Zealand. Three subspecies are recognised. Until recently, most authorities referred to this species as Phalacrocorax melanoleucos.
The species is known as the little pied cormorant in Australia, and as the little shag or by the Māori name of kawaupaka in New Zealand. The term white-throated shag is also reserved for the melanistic form there. The little pied cormorant was originally described by French naturalist Louis Pierre Vieillot in 1817. In 1931, American ornithologist James Lee Peters was the first to consider this in a separate genus along with the pygmy cormorant (M. pygmaeus), little cormorant (M. niger), and the long-tailed cormorant (M. africanus... Wikipedia →
Begging call0:45
Australia · 2023
© nick talbot · XC794988 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Recording0:48
Australia · 2019
© deborod · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
Recording0:28
Australia · 2025
Rosalie Lawrence · iNaturalist · CC0
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Prague Zoo | 🇨🇿 Czechia | |
| 2 | Tierpark Berlin | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 3 | Australia Zoo | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 4 | Parc des oiseaux | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 5 | Melbourne Zoo | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 6 | Adelaide Zoo | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 7 | Willowbank Wildlife Reserve | 🇳🇿 New Zealand | |
| 8 | Featherdale Sydney Wildlife Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 9 | Bali Bird Park | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 10 | Bioparc Fuengirola | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 11 | Rákosův pavilon | 🇨🇿 Czechia | |
| 12 | Velemlokárium | 🇨🇿 Czechia | |
| 13 | Snakeroom Serpentarium | 🇪🇸 Spain |
Likely
About 40% of wildlife watchers report a Little Pied Cormorant sighting in Melbourne on a given day, based on 15,671 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 20th most-seen of the 236 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 80%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
February to May
In those months about 50% of wildlife watchers report a Little Pied Cormorant in Melbourne on a given day, against about 40% in June to January, the lowest months.
Between noon and 3 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Little Pied Cormorant sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
3rd of 7
Of the 7 cities where we can rate Little Pied Cormorant sightings, Melbourne ranks 3rd at about 40%. The best odds are in Denpasar (Indonesia, about 60%) and Perth (Australia, about 50%).
Same family: Phalacrocoracidae
The closest relatives of the Little Pied Cormorant that you can see in Melbourne (family Phalacrocoracidae, Cormorants and Shags) are Little Black Cormorant (about 30%), Great Cormorant (about 10%) and Australian Pied Cormorant (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Little Pied Cormorant is recorded against all the birds logged in Melbourne (15,671 verified sightings), 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.
