European shag: Where It Lives, Map & Facts

Where the European shag lives – recorded in 23 countries, with quick facts from Wikidata and an introduction from Wikipedia.

Scientific name	Gulosus aristotelis
Group	Seabirds, divers & grebes
Status	Least concern (Wikidata, IUCN category label)
Found in	23 countries
Continents	Asia, Europe
Class	Bird
Order	Suliformes
Family	Phalacrocoracidae

Where does the European shag live?

Open-licence (CC0 / CC BY) wild records published on GBIF place the European shag in 23 countries and territories across Asia and Europe.

Countries with at least a handful of records (a minimum share of the species’ records, to leave out vagrants and escapes). Records with coordinates only; captive and fossil records excluded.

Is the European shag endangered?

The European shag’s conservation status recorded in Wikidata is “Least concern” (an IUCN Red List category label). Source: Wikidata.

What kind of animal is the European shag?

The European shag (Gulosus aristotelis) is a bird in the order Suliformes and the family Phalacrocoracidae, genus Gulosus. (Taxonomy from Wikidata.)

About the European shag

The European shag or common shag (Gulosus aristotelis) is a species of cormorant. It is the only member of the monotypic genus Gulosus. It breeds around the rocky coasts of western and southern Europe, southwest Asia and north Africa, mainly wintering in its breeding range except for the northernmost birds. In Britain this seabird is usually referred to as simply the shag. The scientific genus name derives from the Latin for glutton. The species name aristotelis commemorates the Greek philosopher Aristotle.

Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article European shag (revision 1376310448), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: lead section excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Quick facts, taxonomy and status: Wikidata Q83020448 (CC0). Countries and pin: GBIF.org occurrence records (CC0 / CC BY 4.0).