Leucocarbo chalconotus
Silhouette: Juan Carlos Jerí · PhyloPic
In 3 days <5%
The Stewart Island shag (Leucocarbo chalconotus; Māori: matapo) is a species of shag found on New Zealand's South Island and Stewart Island. The Stewart Island shag has sometimes been split into two species, the Foveaux shag and the Otago shag.
The Stewart Island shag was formally described and illustrated in 1845 by the English zoologist George Gray based on a specimen collected by Percy Earl in the Otago region of New Zealand's South Island. Gray placed the new species in the genus Gracalus and coined the binomial name Gracalus chalconotus. The specific epithet is from Ancient Greek χαλκονωτος/khalkonōtos meaning "bronze-backed". The Stewart Island shag is now one of the 15 shags placed in the genus Leucocarbo, which was introduced in 1856 by the French naturalist Charles Lucien Bonaparte.
Two subspecies are recognised: The... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rakiura National Park | 🇳🇿 New Zealand | |
| 2 | Fiordland National Park | 🇳🇿 New Zealand |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Bronze Shag sighting in Fiordland National Park on a given day, based on 10 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 85th most-seen of the 94 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, if each day is a fresh chance.
Any time of year
In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Bronze Shag in Fiordland National Park on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.
Between 2 and 5 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Bronze 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 2
Of the 2 parks where we can rate Bronze Shag sightings, Fiordland National Park ranks 2nd at under 5%. The best odds are in Rakiura National Park (New Zealand, about 40%).
Same family: Phalacrocoracidae
The closest relatives of the Bronze Shag that you can see in Fiordland National Park (family Phalacrocoracidae, Cormorants and Shags) are Little Pied Cormorant (about 30%), Great Cormorant (about 30%) 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 Bronze Shag is recorded against all the birds logged in Fiordland National Park (10 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.
