Phalacrocorax aristotelis
Silhouette: L. Shyamal · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
The European shag or common shag (Gulosus aristotelis) is a species of cormorant. It is the only member of the monotypic genus Gulosus. It breeds around the rocky coasts of western and southern Europe, southwest Asia and north Africa, mainly wintering in its breeding range except for the northernmost birds. In Britain this seabird is usually referred to as simply the shag. The scientific genus name derives from the Latin for glutton. The species name aristotelis commemorates the Greek philosopher Aristotle.
The European shag was formerly classified within the genus Phalacrocorax, but a 2014 study found it to be significantly more diverged than the clade containing Phalacrocorax and Urile, but basal to the clade containing Nannopterum and Leucocarbo, and thus classified it in its own genus, Gulosus. The IOC followed this classification in 2021. Gulosus is thought to have split from the Nannopterum-Leucocarbo clade between 9.0–11.2 million years ago.
G. a. desmarestii – (Payraudeau, 1826): found in southern Europe, southwest... Wikipedia →
Recording0:16
Isle of Man · 2021
© David Bellamy · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
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Netherlands · 2016
© Dick Groenendijk · Observation.org, Nature data from around the World · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Snowdonia National Park | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 2 | Camargue | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 3 | Wadden Sea National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dublin | 🇮🇪 Ireland | |
| 2 | Istanbul | 🇹🇷 Turkey | |
| 3 | Athens | 🇬🇷 Greece | |
| 4 | Barcelona | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 5 | Izmir | 🇹🇷 Turkey | |
| 6 | Valencia | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 7 | Rotterdam [The Hague] | 🇳🇱 Netherlands | |
| 8 | Amsterdam | 🇳🇱 Netherlands | |
| 9 | Lisbon | 🇵🇹 Portugal | |
| 10 | Manchester | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a European Shag sighting in Snowdonia National Park on a given day, based on 49 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 117th most-seen of the 164 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 20%, if each day is a fresh chance.
February and December
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a European Shag in Snowdonia National Park on a given day, against under 5% in January and March–November, the lowest months.
Between 11 am and 2 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most European Shag sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Yes
Of the 3 parks where we can rate European Shag sightings, Snowdonia National Park has the highest daily chance: under 5%. Next come Camargue (France, under 5%) and Wadden Sea National Park (Germany, under 5%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the European Shag is recorded against all the birds logged in Snowdonia National Park (49 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.
