An example of this magnificent species was collected by Forster in Queen Charlotte Sound during Cook’s second voyage. Forster’s description of Pelecanus carunculatus was not published until 1844 but Latham described his “Carunculated shag” from Forster’s specimen and painting, and Gmelin in 1789 latinised Latham’s name.
The Russian explorer Bellinghausen visited Queen Charlotte Sound in 1820 and collected “cormorants with a bluish eye membrane”.
It was not until 1875 when H.H. Travers collected the species again in Queen Charlotte Sound that its proper status in the New Zealand avifauna was established.
This shag is a sedentary species, never going far from its breeding place. It has never been reported as common. With a total population of perhaps less than 500 birds, the king shag is one of the rarest shags in the world.
To Maori Te Kawau-a-Toru was a sacred bird loyal to Kupe. Possessing a huge wingspan, he was reputed to be ‘the eye of the ancestor’, a special bird with insights into ancient knowledge.
Members of the shag family belong to three groups, based on the colour of their feet: black, yellow or pink. Outside New Zealand, the black-footed shags are better known as cormorants.
