Truly, madly, deeply

Bloggers: Campaign Manager for the shag, Room 16, Birkenhead Primary School, North Shore, Auckland

The pied shag in Maori is called karuhiruhi. 

Photo featuring some of the campaigners, and their favourite bird: the Shag.

We think the pied shag should be bird of the year because they are found all over New Zealand, in cities and the country. 

They are extra special because they can be easily seen because of their large size, in fact there is a nesting colony 15 minutes from downtown Auckland, at Chelsea Heritage Park

They eat off the bottom of the sea floor, and their diet consists of smelt, bullies, flounder, mullet and eels.

All shags have yellow bills and they have pink or yellow webbed feet.  When they are young they are completely black.

Their nests are very strong and messy, in the branches of large trees.  Shags have few predators, but can be killed off by polluted water.

We like them because we can visit the nearby colony in Birkenhead and see the baby birds shortly after they are born.