Photo: Pied Shags Flying Formation Picture

Three Pied Shags show off their flying formation above Taiaroa Head on the Otago Peninsula in the South Island of New Zealand.

On a cloudy day, the lighting is ideal to capture a picture of three Pied Shags in a flying formation above Taiaroa Head near Dunedin on the South Island of New Zealand. Their distinct black and white colours and long hooked beaks are easy to see as they soar overhead.

At one time, Pied Shags were considered by fishermen to be a threat and they were continuously being harassed by boats out on the water. It soon came to light, that Pied Shags dive below the surface, sometimes as far as twenty meters, to find mullet, flounder and paddle crabs.

Pied Shags are now protected as the numbers were quickly diminishing and now the numbers are showing a vast increase around the New Zealand waters. The coastal shores are the best place to see Pied Shags as they never seem to spend time flying more than a kilometer or so away from the shores.

If the Pied Shags are not flying in their own type of formation, visitors to New Zealand can capture a picture of them drying themselves on rocks. ... continue below the picture...

This picture is part of the photo album "Animal Pictures" - there are more beautiful images waiting for you.

... They also love to swim in the waters around the shores foraging for food, but this is usually done on a solitary level. While flying, it is not unlikely to see two or three Pied Shags together with their wings spread wide showing off their white underside.

Pied Shags also known as Cormorants, Phalacrocorax varius varius, at Taiaroa Head, Otago Peninsula near Dunedin, Otago, East Coast, South Island, New Zealand.