THE GREEDY SHAG

Taranaki Daily News, 18 January 1930, Page 1 (Supplement)

THE GREEDY SHAG

DEATH TO TARANAKI FISH

(Bj

C.M.H.)

New Zealand holds the distinction of having a greater number of different kinds of shag than any other country in the world. Naturalists tell us that in Europe there arc but three kinds, in North and South America twelve, in Asia seven, in Africa six and in Australia five. In the Dominion there are no fewer than fifteen species. All shags are exceedingly greedy birds, and the toll they take of fish life in the course of a year must be enormous. Most shags live on the seashore and love the wild, desolate, rock-bound portions of our sea board. They are very hardy creatures, and survive with apparent ease the storms and gales of the severest winter.

They travel very great distances in a day, and have the homing instinct abnormally developed. Should a shag have its home inland in the top reaches of"a river half a dozen miles from the sea, it does not always follow the course of the river to and fro. After visiting the sea for a few hours, where it will gorge itself with fish, it will sometimes, rise very high in. the air, take its bearings, and then fly and plane in an almost direct line to its nest. Other birds will often follow the windings of the stream, turning with each turn of the river bed. When over the sea shags appear clumsy and even slow, but over the land they develop a velocity of flight greater perhaps than that of any other New Zealand bird.

Some shags nest in trees, and in Taranaki the upper reaches of our rivers provide splendid sanctuary for nesting purposes. The nests are large, rough structures, usually composed of sticks, twigs, and loose dried grass or tussock. These are often bound together with seaweed carried by the parent birds from the sea. Usually from two to four young birds are hatched in each nest.

Of all birds shags have the reputation of being the most gluttonous. Their appetites appear to be quite insatiable. Their food consists exclusively of fish, and it is astounding how large a fish they can swallow. There is a pouch in the neck of the shag which the bird fills to overflowing with fish. It will then fly to a boulder near the seashore or river, or an adjacent tree, and rest for a. while. Digestion appears to be extraordinarily rapid as the bird seldom stays in repose for over half an hour. Then away it goes to hunt more food. Its diving capabilities are exceptional, and it can cover 60 or 70 yards underwater with lightning, rapidity. Seldom does a shag emerge from a dive without a fish, which it is seen to pouch as it comes to the surface. A large shag has been observed to dive down and reappear with a big flounder flapping in its bill. It shook and tossed the fish and managed to double it lengthwise, when the hapless flounder quickly disappeared down the capacious throat. Eds up to 20 inches in length are frequently captured and swallowed whole.

When the young are in the nests the fish brought by the parent birds is usually small, ranging up to about three inches in length. The pouch will contain anything from a pint to a quart of small fry. As the parent bird, in feeding its family, scarcely ever ceases work during the hours of daylight, the amount of fish taken from the sea and the rivers must be enrymous.

It is very interesting to hide near a shaggery and observe the parent bird feeding the hungry youngsters. The mother takes up a position usually on a branch near the nest. The fledglings crane their necks until dislocation appears almost certain, then leave the nest and take up a position beside the parent. Bending down her head the rtfother opens her mandibles wide. A youngster pushes its head down the mother's throat and extracts a mouthful of food. Each young bird in turn repeats the performance until the pouch of the parent is emptied. She then flies off to obtain a fresh supply of food, generally returning in about an hour. As this performance is repeated many times a day it is easily seen what enormous quantities of food have to be supplied, especially as in some shaggcrics . upwards of 80 nests have ’been counted.

In Taranaki shags are fairly plentiful, and the toll of trout they take from the rivers is hard to estimate, but it certainly is prodigious. A few - days ago a party of anglers wore fishing the Stony River inland from Okato, just below the mountain reserve. A large shag flew up the streambed and was observed to alight in a tree some distance away. The party knew of the nest, and had taken a pea rifle with the idea of exterminating the shags. The parent bird was accounted for with the first shot. She proved to be a very large specimen, heavy as a goose, and evidently of the species known as the pied shag. Three young birds, nearly full-grown, were observed in the nest, but they would not expose themselves sufficiently for a shot. Several shots were then fired through the nest. This had the effect of making the youngsters stand upright and in their fear they disgorged the contents of their stomachs. The contents proved in each case to be a well-grown trout. The smallest trout was a good eight inches in length and the largest one disgorged was in the vicinity of fourteen inches. While the young birds were in their erect position they were shot down, and afterwards the nest was destroyed. As the Stony River has been stocked with rainbow trout for many years it can easily be seen what an enormous toll the shags are taking from this excellent angling stream. Each year the Acclimatisation Society places upwards of 50,000 trout fry in the Stony River, but the angling does not appear to improve to any appreciable extent. Perhaps if attention could be given to the shooting out of all shaggeries on this and other streams in Taranaki, angling in this splendidly watered province would show the improvement that all wielders of the rod are anxiously awaiting.