South Polar Skua

Stercorarius maccormickiOrder: CHARADRIIFORMES Family: Skuas, Gulls, Terns, Skimmers (Laridae)

Codes: Common Name: SPSK Scientific Name: STEMAC ITIS Taxonomic No.: 660062

South Polar Skua Light - The light South Polar Skua has a pale gray-brown head and underparts.

South Polar Skua - The dark South Polar Skua has a dark brown body and large white patch at the base of the primaries visible in flight.

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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.

South Polar Skua

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.

● Song: "scoo-ah"

● Foraging & Feeding: South Polar Skua Dark: Feeds mostly on fish. Sometimes chases other birds to steal food.

● Breeding & nesting: South Polar Skua Dark: One to three yellow, green, or brown eggs marked with purple and brown are laid in a shallow ground depression. Incubation ranges from 24 to 34 days and is carried out by both parents.

● Similar species: South Polar Skua Dark: Great Skua has heavy streaks on body and wing coverts and red-brown tones.

Flight Pattern

Swift direct flight with shallow wing beats.

● Range & 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.

^BreedingMonogamous, Small colonies

^PopulationCasual

^MigrationMigratory

^Weight40 Ounces

4 and 6 letter alpha codes

The four letter common name alpha code is is derived from the first two letters of the common first name and the first two letters of common last name. The six letter species name alpha code is derived from the first three letters of the scientific name (genus) and the first three letters of the scientific name (species). See (1) below for the rules used to create the codes..

Four-letter (for English common names) and six-letter (for scientific names) species alpha codes were developed by Pyle and DeSante (2003, North American Bird-Bander 28:64-79) to reflect A.O.U. taxonomy and nomenclature (A.O.U. 1998) as modified by Supplements 42 (Auk 117:847-858, 2000) and 43 (Auk 119:897-906, 2002). The list has been updated by Pyle and DeSante to reflect changes reported by the A.O.U from 2003 through 2006.

Field Guide to Birds of North America

South Polar Skua

South Polar Skua

Flight Pattern