The Chatham Island shag has run out of room. It lives only on the Chatham Islands. It does not travel. It does not disperse. It stays close to the rocky shores where it has always lived. It fishes the same coves. It nests on the same cliffs. A few hundred birds. A few kilometres of coastline. That is the entire species. If it disappears from the Chathams, it disappears from everywhere. There is no backup population. No second chance. Just this island. This coastline. These few hundred birds. It is a large, heavy shag. Black above and white below. A bronzy-green sheen covers the back and wings. The face is dark. The eye is ringed in blue. The feet are pink. In breeding season, a small crest rises from the forehead. The bird looks slightly surprised. It may have reason to be. The nest is a platform of seaweed and sticks. It is built on a cliff ledge or a rocky stack. Two or three eggs are laid. Both parents share incubation. The colony is small. A few dozen nests, spaced apart. The birds do not crowd. They cannot afford to. Feeding involves small fish, eels, and crustaceans. The bird dives in shallow coastal waters. It swims low. It dives often. It surfaces somewhere else. A shag underwater is a different creature. Fast. Agile. Silent. On land, it is awkward. The legs are set far back. It waddles. It does not care. The chicks are naked at hatching. They grow grey down. Both parents feed them. They take turns diving and returning with fish. The nest becomes a mess of guano and fish bones. The chicks grow fast. They need to. The Chatham winter is cold. The threats are many. Introduced predators include cats, rats, and weka. Disturbance from fishing boats and coastal development adds pressure. Storm surges wash nests off low ledges. A species with a tiny population cannot withstand any of these events. Conservationists have been working on the Chathams for years. Predator control. Nest protection. The population has stabilised. That is not growth. That is a pause. The numbers remain precarious. The matapo is named for its call. Māori gave it that name. It means "to grope" or "to search blindly." The shag's call at night is a low, moaning sound. It seems to come from nowhere. On a dark evening on the Chathams, with the wind off the sea, the sound is unsettling. It marks the boundary between land and sea. The global population is estimated at 350 to 500 birds. It is restricted entirely to the Chatham Islands. The Department of Conservation classifies the species as Nationally Critical. It is one of the rarest shags in the world. The bird carries on.