Little pied cormorant | |
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in New South Wales | |
in Tasmania | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Suliformes |
Family: | Phalacrocoracidae |
Genus: | Microcarbo |
Species: | M. melanoleucos
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Binomial name | |
Microcarbo melanoleucos (Vieillot, 1817)
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Range of the little pied cormorant | |
Synonyms | |
Phalacrocorax melanoleucos |
The little pied cormorant, little shag or kawaupaka (Microcarbo melanoleucos) 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.