Leucocarbo chalconotus
Silhouette: Juan Carlos Jerí · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~80% in a week >90%
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 |
Likely
About 40% of wildlife watchers report a Bronze Shag sighting in Rakiura National Park on a given day, based on 752 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 20th most-seen of the 80 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 and April–June
In those months about 50% of wildlife watchers report a Bronze Shag in Rakiura National Park on a given day, against about 20% in October, the lowest month.
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.
Yes
Of the 2 parks where we can rate Bronze Shag sightings, Rakiura National Park has the highest daily chance: about 40%. Next come Fiordland National Park (New Zealand, under 5%).
Same family: Phalacrocoracidae
The closest relatives of the Bronze Shag that you can see in Rakiura National Park (family Phalacrocoracidae, Cormorants and Shags) are Australian Pied Cormorant (about 40%), Spotted Shag (about 40%) and Little Pied Cormorant (about 20%), 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 Rakiura National Park (752 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.
