The blue-eyed shags are a group of closely related cormorant taxa. All have a blue ring around the eye (not a blue iris); other shared features are white underparts (at least in some individuals) and pink feet.

They are found around the colder parts of the Southern Hemisphere, especially near southern South America and near New Zealand. Many are endemic to remote islands. Determining which types are species and which are subspecies of what larger species is problematic; various recent authorities have recognized from 9 to 13 species and have placed them in a variety of genera. The common names are even more confusing, "like myriad footprints criss-crossing in the snow and about as easy to disentangle." Only one common name is given for most species here.

Delimiting this group after Nelson but assigning species limits after HANZAB gives the following species list, divided into two "complexes":

• Imperial Shag or Blue-eyed Shag, Phalacrocorax atriceps
• White-bellied Shag, Phalacrocorax (atriceps) albiventer
• Antarctic Shag, Phalacrocorax (atriceps) bransfieldensis
• South Georgian Shag, Phalacrocorax (atriceps) georgianus
• Heard Shag, Phalacrocorax (atriceps) nivalis
• Crozet Shag, Phalacrocorax (atriceps) melanogenis
• Macquarie Shag, Phalacrocorax (atriceps) purpurascens
• Kerguelen Shag, Phalacrocorax (atriceps) verrucosus
• King Shag or Rough-faced Shag, Phalacrocorax carunculatus
• Stewart Island Shag, Phalacrocorax chalconotus
• Chatham Shag, Phalacrocorax onslowi
• Auckland Shag, Phalacrocorax colensoi
• Campbell Shag, Phalacrocorax campbelli
• Bounty Shag, Phalacrocorax ranfurlyi

In one modern treatment, the Guanay Cormorant would also go in this group.

See Cormorant species in phylogenetic sequence for further information.

References