The European Shag is a seabird of rocky coasts. It dives after fish, and breeding adults show a raised crest.
Its dark plumage has a green sheen. The narrow, hook-tipped bill has a yellow gape, and breeding adults develop a crest.
A boat survey in the first half of June 2022 recorded 170 adult and 37 nonbreeding European Shags around Ura-Guba in Russia’s Barents Sea. Along the mainland coast, the researchers found two breeding colonies in places where breeding had not previously been recorded.
At least 76 pairs nested between Medvezhy Cape and Cape Voriy. Thirteen pairs shared a rocky ledge with Great Cormorants, while a second colony held 63 pairs of European Shags alone.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.
The paper described a change in the species’ distribution along the Barents Sea coast, but the available observations did not identify its cause. The authors call for further surveys to track changes in breeding locations.