European Shag (Gulosus aristotelis) - 11Feb2025

Although the European Shag is mostly found in Europe, it can also be found in North Africa and Iceland as well. It is the only cormorant in its genus and was found to have diverged from other cormorants over 9 million years ago.  I have seen them in a couple places but only obtained decent photos in my last trip to the south of France.  These pics are from Cap d'Antibes.  Although they look similar to Double-crested Cormorant, in most of their range they don't overlap.  The Great Cormorant is the other one that overlaps but they can easily be separated.

Pelagic Cormorant (Urile pelagicus) - 31May2021

The Pelagic Cormorant is one of 4 species in the Urile genus which all inhabit the northern Pacific Ocean.  The others are Brandt's, Red-faced and the extinct Spectacled Cormorant.  The Pelagic Cormorant is normally found on the ocean, but during breeding season they build nests in seaside cliffs and can easily be seen there.  I saw my first ones in San Diego, but I got much better looks when in Oregon where they were nesting on cliffs at the Yaquina Head Lighthouse. 

Masked Booby (Sula dactylatra) - 27Aug2023

Masked Booby is one of the six birds in the genus Sula.  Here in North Carolina we have semi-annual sightings usually in the Gulf Stream off Hatteras. 

Jabiru (Jabiru mycteria) - 17Aug2022

The Jabiru is a truly awesome bird to see, standing up to 5 feet high with a wingspan of 9 feet across.  We saw tons of them in the Pantanal.  They are the tallest flying bird in the Americas, and have the second largest wingspan after Andean Condor (not including Wandering Albatross which is oceanic).  

White Stork (Ciconia ciconia) - 10Feb2025

The White Stork has a wide distribution and importance all over Eurasia and Africa.  The storks are known to predate on rats and other vermin which made them important to people who associated the vermin with disease.  Old European folklore about storks carrying babies to expecting parents was ancient but popularized with the fables of Hans Christian Andersen in the 19th century.  White Storks frequently nest on roof tops or church belfries which makes them easy to spot.   I saw mine in agriculture fields in the Carmargue in the south of France.

Maguari Stork (Ciconia maguari) - 22Aug2022

The Maguari Stork is the new world equivalent of the White Stork of Eurasia.  They are massive birds which eat pretty much anything and everything around including small mammals.  We saw ours in the Pantanal in Brazil.  They have a pretty wide distribution in South America on either side of the Amazon basin.

Black Stork (Ciconia nigra) - 10Feb2025

Black Storks range all over Eurasia and Africa but that doesn't take away how cool these huge birds are.  It seems they are more wary of humans than the other stork in Europe (White Stork).  This one was photographed in the Camargue in southern France.