CreatureData

Guanay cormorant

Leucocarbo bougainvilliorum (R. P. Lesson, 1837)

NTNear Threatenedbirds

The guanay cormorant (Leucocarbo bougainvilliorum) is a species in the family Phalacrocoracidae, order Suliformes. Recorded adults weigh 2.49 kg to 2.57 kg. Its IUCN Red List status is Near Threatened.

Guanay cormorant (Leucocarbo bougainvilliorum)
Photo: Bruno Girin from London, United Kingdom · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the guanay cormorant

Weight
2.49 kg – 2.57 kgsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
Not recorded
Diet
Aquatic predatorsrc for Diet
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
marinesrc for Habitat
Young per litter or clutch
2.5 – 3src for Young per litter or clutch
Litters or clutches a year
1src for Litters or clutches a year
Lifestyle
Aquaticsrc for Lifestyle
Migration
Sedentarysrc for Migration
Conservation status
Near Threatened (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
Not recorded

Where does the guanay cormorant live?

Not recorded

What is the guanay cormorant?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The guanay cormorant or guanay shag (Leucocarbo bougainvilliorum) is a member of the cormorant family found on the Pacific coast of Peru and northern Chile. After breeding it spreads south to southern parts of Chile and north to Ecuador, and has also been recorded as far north as Panama and Colombia, probably a result of mass dispersal due to food shortage in El Niño years. Its major habitats include shallow seawater and rocky shores. A former population on the Patagonian Atlantic coast of Argentina appears to be extinct.

From the Wikipedia article “Guanay cormorant” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Guanay_cormorant&oldid=1383028534), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.

Is the guanay cormorant endangered?

The guanay cormorant is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List: it is close to qualifying as threatened.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Near Threatened species. What the categories mean.

How is the guanay cormorant classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAves
  4. orderSuliformes
  5. familyPhalacrocoracidae
  6. genusLeucocarbo
  7. SpeciesLeucocarbo bougainvilliorum (R. P. Lesson, 1837)

Synonyms Carbo bougainvillii, Carbo bougainvilliorum, Leucocarbo bougainvillii, Phalacrocorax bougainvillii, Phalacrocorax bougainvilliorum, Phalacrocorax bouganvillei

Other names and names in other languages (35)
  • GuanayEnglish
  • Guanay shagEnglish
  • غاق جوانايArabic
  • غاقة البيروArabic
  • corb marí guanerCatalan
  • PeruskarvDanish
  • GuanoscharbeGerman
  • GuanokormoranGerman
  • guana kormoranoEsperanto
  • Cormorán guanaySpanish
  • GuaanokormoranEstonian
  • guaanokormoran (guaanokarbas)Estonian
  • guanomerimetsoFinnish
  • Cormoran de BougainvilleFrench
  • Cormoran des BougainvilleFrench
  • čilski vranacCroatian
  • guanókormoránHungarian
  • Cormorano guanayItalian
  • Cormorano del guanoItalian
  • グアナイムナジロヒメウJapanese
  • Bugenvilio kormoranasLithuanian
  • HumboldtaalscholverDutch
  • Humboldt-aalscholverDutch
  • kormoran peruwiańskiPolish
  • biguá-do-guanoPortuguese
  • corvo-marinho-do-guanoPortuguese
  • WanayQuechua
  • Баклан БугенвиляRussian
  • Перуанский бакланRussian
  • kormorán guánovýSlovak
  • guanoskarvSwedish
  • Guano KarabatağıTurkish
  • баклан перуанськийUkrainian
  • 南美鸕鷀Chinese
  • 南美鸬鹚Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataIUCN Red List

Relatives of the guanay cormorant

Other species in the same genus Leucocarbo.

LC, Least Concern
Imperial shag (Leucocarbo atriceps)

Imperial shag

Leucocarbo atriceps

Phalacrocoracidae

VU, Vulnerable
Bounty shag (Leucocarbo ranfurlyi)

Bounty shag

Leucocarbo ranfurlyi

Phalacrocoracidae

LC, Least Concern
Rock shag (Leucocarbo magellanicus)

Rock shag

Leucocarbo magellanicus

Phalacrocoracidae

CompareGuanay cormorant vs Imperial shagGuanay cormorant vs Bounty shagGuanay cormorant vs New Zealand king shagGuanay cormorant vs Rock shag

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the guanay cormorant?

An adult guanay cormorant weighs 2.49 kg – 2.57 kg, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Is the guanay cormorant endangered?

The guanay cormorant is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is close to qualifying as threatened.

What kind of animal is the guanay cormorant?

The guanay cormorant (Leucocarbo bougainvilliorum) belongs to the family Phalacrocoracidae in the order Suliformes.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Guanay cormorant (Leucocarbo bougainvilliorum). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/guanay-cormorant

MLA

“Guanay cormorant (Leucocarbo bougainvilliorum).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/guanay-cormorant.

BibTeX
@misc{guanay_cormorant_2026,
  title = {Guanay cormorant (Leucocarbo bougainvilliorum)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/guanay-cormorant},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}