Alternative names: Southern Skua, Subantarctic Skua or Falkland Skua
- Stercorarius antarctica
Identification
Size: 52-64 cm, wing 35.5-40.2 cm, wingspan 126-160 cm, females on average are larger in most measurements, most noticeably in wing length.
Distribution
Photo by Rodrigo Tapia
Ardley Peninsula, King George Island, South Shetland Archipelago, Antarctica, January 1992
Falkland Islands and southern Argentina from Chubut to Tierra del Fuego.
Taxonomy
This species has been placed in the genus Catharacta with the other large skuas (Sibley & Monroe, 1993; Clements, 2000).
Subspecies[1]
There are 3 subspecies:
antarcticus breeds in the Falkland Islands, and south-east South America
hamiltoni breeds on Tristan da Cunha and Gough Island
lonnbergi on the Antarctic Peninsula and around e.g., New Zealand.
The subspecies lonnbergi has been treated as a full species Stercorarius lonnbergi by some authorities.[2]
Older texts and some current field guides will treat Brown Skua as a part of Great Skua.
Habitat
Pelagic. Inland (during breeding season)
Behaviour
Breeding
Oct-Nov onwards, on flat grassy areas or short grass heaths. Nest is an unlined or sparsely so, scrape. 1-2 eggs, incubated 28-32 days, young leave nest within 1-2 days and fledge in 40-50 days. Sexual maturity at six years.
Diet
Scavenger at refuse tips, predates penguin eggs and chicks and burrow nesting seabirds at night.
References
- Clements, JF. 2009. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2009. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019.
- Avibase
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Brown Skua. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 29 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Brown_Skua
