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great skua killed an adult ganet (1 Viewer)

Did it kill a fit adult Gannet or was it just feeding on a moribund bird? I watched a great skua eating a GBBG and always wondered whether it had killed it.
 
says it killed it

I think the gbb gull is the only bird that seems to turn tables on the great skua, sometimes they do fall victim though. On the water the GBb gull seems to get the upper hand and will fight a great skua and scare it off. But in the air the gbb gull is at a disadvantage and is sometimes caught by suprise. But face to face on the ocean an adult GBB gull is not going to fall victim to a skua. They are usually attacks of suprise/ambush in the air.

LBB and herring gulls are killed all sorts of ways by great skuas. They are much much weaker in build and beak than a GBB gull. GBb gulls are power houses. Very dangerous bird to attack. Unless you're an eagle.

You can see here a GBB gull does not have much trouble controlling osprey and mobbing them notice the powerful wing grab with its massive bill.

http://www.arkive.org/great-black-b...t flys over their nest chicks or eggs though.
 
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great skuas also kill grey herons but they dont do this on land they do this over the water and drown them. On top of water the grey heron is at a serious loss and drowns easy. They just knock the heron into the water and drown it. Once the heron is hit in the water it is helpless.
I have heard gulls will try this with herons also.


But a gannet is the king of water and swimming. Just such a shocker. Shags are small. I have not heard of great cormorants being taken either. Both these and gannets are big aggressive strong birds and strong swimmers. They get robbed but not killed.


I once read about a great skua killing a polecat that tried to rob its nest.
 
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Gannets usually hold their own against Great Skuas at a feeding frenzy but I daresay a skua could catch one by surprise. Certainly on the water Gannets have the upper hand.
 
Over the years I've seen Great Skuas kill & eat Storm Petrel, Leach's Petrel, Guillemot, Razorbill, Fulmar & Manx Shearwater. Also saw one tackle hard into a Great Shearwater on the water which then never reappeared as far as I could see.

An unfortunate Grey Heron flying offshore from Cape Clear had 5 Great Skuas in attendance but it managed to get away.

Don't mess with Bonxies!

Niall
 
Also saw one tackle hard into a Great Shearwater on the water which then never reappeared as far as I could see.

Don't mess with Bonxies!

Niall

On the flip side to that, I once watched 2 bonxies really busting a gut to get close to a great shearwater...the shear barely seemed to care and avoided them both with a casualness that could have been described as showboating!

Things might have been different on a windless day I guess...
 
Bonxie

Quite a number of interesting reports of Great Skua predations on other seabirds. Definitely the bird of prey of the seas!
 
Brilliant footage. Makes me think has a GBB Gull ever singlehandedly killed a bird of prey? Osprey's can be robbed by other birds such as Marsh Harrier, Black Kite and even Pallas Gulls.

says it killed it

I think the gbb gull is the only bird that seems to turn tables on the great skua, sometimes they do fall victim though. On the water the GBb gull seems to get the upper hand and will fight a great skua and scare it off. But in the air the gbb gull is at a disadvantage and is sometimes caught by suprise. But face to face on the ocean an adult GBB gull is not going to fall victim to a skua. They are usually attacks of suprise/ambush in the air.

LBB and herring gulls are killed all sorts of ways by great skuas. They are much much weaker in build and beak than a GBB gull. GBb gulls are power houses. Very dangerous bird to attack. Unless you're an eagle.

You can see here a GBB gull does not have much trouble controlling osprey and mobbing them notice the powerful wing grab with its massive bill.

http://www.arkive.org/great-black-b...ver their nest chicks or eggs though.[/QUOTE]
 
I never knew that would happen to Herons. I would have never suspected Gulls would try it. It makes me think what would a large Gull or a Skua do if see a migrating Buzzard, Goshawk , large Falcon over a sea?

great skuas also kill grey herons but they dont do this on land they do this over the water and drown them. On top of water the grey heron is at a serious loss and drowns easy. They just knock the heron into the water and drown it. Once the heron is hit in the water it is helpless.
I have heard gulls will try this with herons also.


But a gannet is the king of water and swimming. Just such a shocker. Shags are small. I have not heard of great cormorants being taken either. Both these and gannets are big aggressive strong birds and strong swimmers. They get robbed but not killed.


I once read about a great skua killing a polecat that tried to rob its nest.
 
they will kill it if they catch it over sea

specially the bonxie which can catch them very easy

bonxie can catch gryfalcons in a straight flight. THey have a faster level flight speed.


GBB gulls could only catch very tired ones


Even outside of the water big falcons cannot last long around bonxies they need to get away fast or they will crash and die.
 
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That suprised me too, I appreciate falcons like to stoop to knock out prey and are not true "scrappers" like Bonxies, but i am still surprised that a Bonxie would try to tackle a Gyrfalcon. Maybe smaller males are more suceptible? Also surprised a Bonxie could catch a Gyr in level flight.
 
On the flip side to that, I once watched 2 bonxies really busting a gut to get close to a great shearwater...the shear barely seemed to care and avoided them both with a casualness that could have been described as showboating!

Things might have been different on a windless day I guess...

Saw a similar situation last autumn when a Great Skua made an attempt on a Sooty Shear.

The Sooty absolutely bombed it as fast as it could, banking erratically side to side until it was well clear of danger. Never seen one fly as fast!

Niall
 
well no these are large powerful experienced female gry falcons. It happens to wild ones if they dont get out of a bonxie territory and it will happen to a falconers experienced herring gull hunter.

The falconer will take his gry faclon to a garbage dump to hunt herring gulls if there is a bonxie there the bonxie will go after his falcon and rip the crap out of it in mid air. The falcon is usually so battered that it will REFUSE to fly in the same area again.

This has happened to many falconers gull falcons. They are hunting gulls large herring gulls and all of a sudden a pissed off bonxie comes along and batters the crap out of it and makes it crash.

I was shocked to hear about it but they said even if their falcon caught a bonxie they still think the bonxie will turn the tables on their falcons fast. Their falcons large female gry falcons are terrified of bonxies and once they run into them will never dare fly in that same area again.



They end up with missing feathers and bloody backs sometmes from bonxies ripping into their backs.
 
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I'm not sure how many of you keen sea watchers have been cruising but I can thoroughly recommend any cruise going from the UK to Iceland and Greenland via the Faroes.
If you go on one of the smaller ships such as Fred Olsen there are wonderful opportunities to get very close to the action.
Every sea day was spent on deck from morning to evening only taking breaks for meals and drink breaks.
Wonderful!
One day we saw a Great Skua bumping into Gannets mid air within yards of the deck.
The Gannets were stunned and fell into the water.
What happened to the Gannets I'm not sure.They were left floundering in the sea as we sailed on.
A Canary cruise around August is excellent to,especially if you sail from the UK so you can take in Biscay.Try and get on a cruise which calls in at Gibralter or Portugal on the way back.The seawatching in all these areas is excellent.[again smaller cruise ships are the best as you are closer to the water.
 
What if it was a Goshawk?


well no these are large powerful experienced female gry falcons. It happens to wild ones if they dont get out of a bonxie territory and it will happen to a falconers experienced herring gull hunter.

The falconer will take his gry faclon to a garbage dump to hunt herring gulls if there is a bonxie there the bonxie will go after his falcon and rip the crap out of it in mid air. The falcon is usually so battered that it will REFUSE to fly in the same area again.

This has happened to many falconers gull falcons. They are hunting gulls large herring gulls and all of a sudden a pissed off bonxie comes along and batters the crap out of it and makes it crash.

I was shocked to hear about it but they said even if their falcon caught a bonxie they still think the bonxie will turn the tables on their falcons fast. Their falcons large female gry falcons are terrified of bonxies and once they run into them will never dare fly in that same area again.



They end up with missing feathers and bloody backs sometmes from bonxies ripping into their backs.
 
they never come into contact? Don't forget how big a bonixe is a beast of a bird. With an extremly powerful build. It has the agility of a raven and speed level flight speed is very fast. A goshawk would not see one as prey. Bonxie act like raptors. A caracara might teach a bonxie a lesson. Since caracaras are always attacking red tails and harris hawks, ospray and vultures and ANYTHING with prey on them. I don't think a crested caracara is found in the same area as bonxie though? I know they will attack one though.
 
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