Overview
South Polar Skua Dark: Small, gull-like skua, occurs in two color phases. Dark phase adult has dark brown body, large white patch at base of primaries visible in flight. Dark bill, thick and heavy; short, broad tail. Light phase adult has pale gray-brown head and underparts. Strong direct flight.
Range and Habitat
South Polar Skua Dark: Nests in Antarctica in sheltered areas adjacent to penguin colonies. Migrates to offshore Pacific and Atlantic coasts of North America. Pelagic, comes ashore only to breed.
Skuas and Jaegers (Stercorariidae)
ORDER
The sandpipers, plovers, buttonquail, auks, and skuas, and oystercatchers are some of the nineteen families in the taxonomic order CHARADRIIFORMES (pronounced kah-RAH-dree-ih-FOR-meez).
FAMILY TAXONOMY
The Stercorariidae (pronounced stehr-koh-rah-REYE-ih-dee), or skuas and jaegers, encompasses seven species of skuas and jaegers in one genus that can be found in all of the world’s oceans.
NORTH AMERICA
In North America, five species of skuas and jaegers in one genus have been identified. Among these are included the graceful Long-tailed Jaeger and the hefty Great Skua.
KNOWN FOR
Members of this family are known for their predatory and piratical behavior. Like other skuas and jaegers, the Parasitic Jaeger is known for expertly chasing and harassing gulls and terns until they drop their food.
PHYSICAL
The skuas and jaegers look like a cross between a gull and a falcon. They are large birds with long, pointed wings (broader in skuas), have thick necks with fairly large heads, webbed feet, and medium-length bills with a hook on the end. They also have distinctive tails with projecting central tail feathers.
COLORATION
Skuas are mostly brown, streaked birds, some species with gray or rusty highlights in their plumage. Juvenile jaegers have plumages similar to those of skuas, while adults are creamy or white on the underparts, the Parasitic and Pomarine Jaegers sporting black breast bands. On the upperparts, adult jaegers are dark brown with black caps. Most plumages of jaegers and skuas also show prominent white patches in the wings at the bases of the primaries.
GEOGRAPHIC HABITAT
Jaegers and Skuas are bird of the Arctic, Antarctic, and the open ocean. They breed on the tundra and rocky islands of the far north, and spend the rest of the year in pelagic waters off of both North American coasts, rarely occurring near land.
MIGRATION
All members of this family are highly migratory.
HABITS
Skuas and jaegers are solitary predators of the high seas except when they form pairs during the breeding season and hunt for small mammals, birds (especially nestlings), and insects on the tundra. Outside of the breeding season, they occur on the open ocean where they pursue gulls, terns, and other seabirds to steal fish these smaller birds have caught. They also prey upon other birds, the skuas even attacking and killing gulls.
CONSERVATION
Skuas and jaegers are not threatened in North America and appear to have healthy populations throughout their range.
INTERESTING FACTS
Jaegers get their name from the Germanic word for “hunter”; an appropriate name for these aggressive, predatory birds. In Great Britain, though, the word “jaeger” is not used with all members of this family being called skuas.