Promoting the world of shags/cormorants
What else am I trying to promote, through this site...
Well... The promotion and the spotlight shags/cormorants deserve.... and to showcase the vast diversity of shags and to showcase their personalities..
To most people, the casual view of a shag, especially outside of the breeding season... Would be of a drab/dark colour bird or just a silhouette of a shag against a contrasting water..
BUT....
Shags are more than just drab looking silhouettes, against the sun, perched on a rock or branch...
A closer look and especially during the breeding season...
You will be pleasantly surprised to find that.. Infact... Shags can be some of the most beautiful birds in the world, especially with their striking facial skin colours that come alive during the courtship part of the breeding season... Yup... some are just drab and brown... but many of them have some striking colours and outrageous feathers... Even some of the black coloured shags will have glossy blue/green/purple shine to their feathers...
Shags/Cormorants are just more than just a bird....
Shags/Cormorants are such hugely underrated and talented birds when it comes to what they can do that other birds cant...
Like a duck, Shags/cormorants can swim quite well with their fully webbed feet although their low profile in the water and lack of buoyant waterproofing feathers drag them down abit.
Like a penguin, Shags/cormorants can dive and swim underwater with high agility and speed and are highly accurate fish guided harpoons.
Like their fellow winged cousins, Shags/cormorants are quite adapt fliers... Although, with a higher wing load they often fly low over the water and utilise the ground effect (compressing air between them and the water) creating a air bubble that they use to push them along without too much effort.
Like eagles, Shags/cormorants can soar and will use thermals to take them to some great heights and allow them to...
Like seagulls... Glide some great distances after soaring to some great heights
Like land birds, Shags/cormorants can walk on land... Not so gracefully but they can walk.
Like forrest birds, Shags/cormorants can land in trees and some species will nest in trees
Like falcons, Shags/cormorants can actually stoop and drop some altitude at some great speeds when they need to... If anyone has seen shags stoop, it's quite spectacular!!
Shags/cormorants are one of the few species of bird that can be found in such a wide range of habitats and can do many things other birds cant...
Shags/Cormorants... You could say...
Are the ultimate super bird!!!