Five Shags in Benidorm

Phalacrocorax aristotelis

Ornithologists in Benidorm are cock-a-hoop over the discovery of a breeding pair of Common Shags (Phalacrocorax aristotelis) and their three chicks on Benidorm Island.

The shags are an endangered species in the Valencian Community and the presence of breeding birds on the island, part of the Sierra Helada Natural Park, is a sign that they are beginning to re-establish themselves in the area.

Indigenous to the Mediterranean, the bird is a member of the cormorant family and is the deepest of all the divers, reaching depths of 45 metres to feed on small fish and sand eels.

The chicks are almost ready to flee the nest and scientists from the environmental agency hope that they will one day help to bring the breed back up to strength not only on the coast of the mainland but as far as the Balearics.

29 April 2009 Stephen White.