Pied Cormorant (phalacrocorax varius)

Pied Cormorants or Yellow-faced or Black and White Shags are seen singly or in flocks. When flying across the bay they keep a straight course and fly low over the water.Their diet consists of fish, prawns and shrimp. Fish is usually procured by diving under the waves off a bay or ocean beach.

This species like the other Cormorants makes a nest in crowded colonies. Nests are strong and substantial, built of sticks and lined with green leaves. They are placed either on low bushes or mangroves or on the ground. Three to five pale bluish white eggs are laid which are often coated with lime. The breeding season is spring to summer occasionally autumn.