IMPERIAL (BLUE-EYED) SHAG Leucocarbo atriceps

Commonly found coastally from central Chile to central Argentina, with a smaller form on freshwater lakes of Tierra del Fuego and the Andean foothills. There are two races atriceps and albiventer. When I first saw them in Chile, there was discussion as to whether they should be split, but the general conscensus was that there was interbreeding and morphological differences are slight. However recent research has indicated that they are both more closely related to other lineages than to each other, and although the IOC remain unconvinced, Peter Harrison splits albiventer as Falkland Shag. They do not interbreed as both are essentially sedentary, this idea arose because there is variation in the white dorsal patch, and that was the only criterion for separation at the time.

Taken Tierra del Fuego Mar.2005, Chile Feb.1990
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