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SOUTH POLAR SKUA FACTS |
Description
The South Polar Skua is a large seabird. Adult birds are greyish brown above, and have a whitish or pale brown head and underside. The lighter head and darker body distinguishes it from other similar species. Young birds are similar to adults with less contrast between head and body. It is also known as Catharacta maccormicki.
Other Names
MacCormick’s skua
Size
53 cm
Habitat
open ocean, Antarctic coast
Food
fish, birds, bird's eggs, mammals, carrion
Breeding
The nest is a shallow depression on the ground on rocky outcrops, cliff sides or valley floors. The female lays two eggs in November and December
Range
breeds on Antarctic coasts wintering at sea in the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic Oceans. It is a winter visitor to Australia
Credits:
Map is from Atlas of Living Australia website at https://biocache.ala.org.au licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Classification
| Class: | Aves | | Order: | Charadriiformes | | Family: | Laridae | | Genus: | Stercorarius | | Species: | maccormicki | | Common Name: | South Polar Skua |
Relatives in same Genus
Brown Skua (S. antarcticus)
Long-tailed Jaeger (S. longicaudus)
Arctic Jaeger (S. parasiticus)
Pomarine Jaeger (S. pomarinus)
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