Paracas Natural Reserve (Ica-Peru)
A little shaky, but you can see them diving! Filmed this on January 2007 (sorry for the bad quality, it was a plain digital camera)



Guanay Cormorant or Guanay Shag

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Pelecaniformes
Family: Phalacrocoracidae
Genus: Phalacrocorax
Species: P. bougainvillii

It is a resident bird living on the Pacific Ocean coast in Peru and north of Chile. It is about 78cm from the tip of the bill to the end of the tail.

Its bill is greyish with some red at the base. The face is red with a green eyering. It has roseate feet. Head, neck and back are black as are the outer parts of the thighs. The throat patch, breast and belly are white. In breeding plumage it has a few white feathers on the sides of head and neck.

Breeding occurs year round with a peak in November/December. The nest made of guano is build on flat surfaces on offshore islands or remote headlands. There are up to 3 nests per square meter in high density colonies. The Guanay Cormorant lays two or three eggs of approximately 63x40mm in size.


It feeds mainly on the Peruvian anchoveta, Engraulis ringens and the Peruvian silverside Odontesthes regia which thrive in the cold Humboldt Current. The Guanay Cormorant is the main producer of guano.
Habitat loss/degradation and over-fishing have resulted in a steady decline of the population of about 30% from an estimated figure of 3 Million birds in 1984. This species is listed as NT (near threatened) by IUCN. (References: Wikipedia, BirdLife International)

Yesss!!! This is one of the first things I learnt!

In January 2007 I visited the Paracas Natural Reserve (Ica-Peru)

I didn't know I would get interested in birdwatching a few months later, but even then I took a few pictures to keep the memory. Today, I was sorting out my pics and found them!

Following the advice I received so far (thank you 'bo' the Fat Birder!) I looked for one of the birds online, it wasn't easy to find (remember I am a beginner!) but when I got it I was sooo excited!!! I found this guy by the Pacific Ocean in Paracas beach fishing for lunch!

Some of what I found on Wikipedia (making reference to BirdLife International (2004). Egretta thula. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 12 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern. Stiles and Skutch, A guide to the birds of Costa Rica ISBN 0-8014-9600-4. National Geographic, Field Guide to the Birds of North America ISBN 0-7922-6877-6):

The Snowy Egret (Egretta thula) is a small white heron. It is the American counterpart to the very similar Old World Little Egret, which has established a foothold in the Bahamas.
Adults are typically 61 cm long and weigh 375 g. They have a slim black bill and long black legs with yellow feet. The area of the upper bill, in front of the eyes, is yellow but turns red during the breeding season, when the adults also gain recurved plumes on the back, making for a "shaggy" effect. The juvenile looks similar to the adult, but the base of the bill is paler, and a green or yellow line runs down the back of the legs.

Their breeding habitat is large inland and coastal wetlands from the lower Great Lakes and southwestern United States to South America. They nest in colonies, often with other waders, usually on platforms of sticks in trees or shrubs. Their flat, shallow nests are made of sticks and lined with fine twigs and rushes. Three to four greenish-blue, oval eggs are incubated by both adults. The young leave the nest in 20 to 25 days and hop about on branches near the nest before finally departing.

In warmer locations, some Snowy Egret are permanent residents; northern populations migrate to Central America and the West Indies. They may wander north after the breeding season, very rarely venturing to western Europe—the first bird sighted in Britain wintered in Scotland from 2001–2002.

The birds eat fish, crustaceans, and insects. They stalk prey in shallow water, often running or shuffling their feet, flushing prey into view, as well "dip-fishing" by flying with their feet just over the water. Snowy Egrets may also stand still and wait to ambush prey, or hunt for insects stirred up by domestic animals in open fields.

At one time, the beautiful plumes of the Snowy Egret were in great demand by market hunters as decorations for women's hats. This reduced the population of the species to dangerously low levels.
Now it is protected by law, under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, this bird's population has rebounded.