Rock shag
Leucocarbo magellanicus (J. F. Gmelin, 1789)
The rock shag (Leucocarbo magellanicus) is a species in the family Phalacrocoracidae, order Suliformes. Recorded adults weigh 1.42 kg to 1.55 kg. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.
.jpg){kind=link}
Quick facts about the rock shag
- Weight
- 1.42 kg – 1.55 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
- 3src for Young per litter or clutch
- Lifestyle
- Aquaticsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Sedentarysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Where does the rock shag live?
Not recorded
What is the rock shag?
The rock shag (Leucocarbo magellanicus), also known as the Magellanic cormorant, is a marine cormorant found around the southernmost coasts of South America. Its breeding range is from around Valdivia, Chile, south to Cape Horn and Tierra del Fuego, and north to Punta Tombo in Argentina. In winter it is seen further north, with individuals reaching as far as Santiago, Chile on the west coast and Uruguay on the east. The birds also breed around the coasts of the Falkland Islands.
From the Wikipedia article “Rock shag” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rock_shag&oldid=1375597634), 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 rock shag endangered?
The rock shag is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.
How is the rock shag classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderSuliformes
- familyPhalacrocoracidae
- genusLeucocarbo
- SpeciesLeucocarbo magellanicus (J. F. Gmelin, 1789)
Synonyms Pelecanus magellanicus, Phalacrocorax magellanicus, Phalacrocorax mentalis, Stictocarbo magellanicus
Other names and names in other languages (33)
- Magellan cormorantEnglish
- Magellanic cormorantEnglish
- Rock cormorantEnglish
- غاق الصخورArabic
- corb marí de MagallanesCatalan
- kormorán skalníCzech
- Magellan SkarvDanish
- FelsenscharbeGerman
- magelana kormoranoEsperanto
- Cormorán magallánicoSpanish
- Cormorán cuello negroSpanish
- Cormorán de las rocasSpanish
- Patagoonia kormoranEstonian
- patagoonia kormoran (patagoonia karbas)Estonian
- patagonianmerimetsoFinnish
- Cormoran de MagellanFrench
- patagonski vranacCroatian
- sziklai kárókatonaHungarian
- Cormorano di MagellanoItalian
- クロクビムナジロヒメウJapanese
- magelaninis kormoranasLithuanian
- MagelhaenaalscholverDutch
- kormoran skalnyPolish
- biguá-magalhânicoPortuguese
- Biguá-das-rochasPortuguese
- corvo-marinho-de-magalhãesPortuguese
- Магелланов бакланRussian
- kormorán skalnýSlovak
- Magelanov vranacSerbian
- Macellan KarabatağıTurkish
- баклан магеланськийUkrainian
- 岩鸕鷀Chinese
- 岩鸬鹚Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List
Relatives of the rock shag
Other species in the same genus Leucocarbo.
Imperial shag
Leucocarbo atriceps
Guanay cormorant
Leucocarbo bougainvilliorum
Bounty shag
Leucocarbo ranfurlyi
New Zealand king shag
Leucocarbo carunculatus
Auckland shag
Leucocarbo colensoi
Stewart island shag
Leucocarbo chalconotus
CompareRock shag vs Imperial shagRock shag vs Guanay cormorantRock shag vs Bounty shagRock shag vs New Zealand king shag
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the rock shag?
An adult rock shag weighs 1.42 kg – 1.55 kg, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Is the rock shag endangered?
The rock shag is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.
What kind of animal is the rock shag?
The rock shag (Leucocarbo magellanicus) 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.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Rock shag (Leucocarbo magellanicus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/rock-shag
“Rock shag (Leucocarbo magellanicus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/rock-shag.
@misc{rock_shag_2026,
title = {Rock shag (Leucocarbo magellanicus)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/rock-shag},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}