Birds of the World

    CHARADRIIFORMES: Stercorariidae (Skuas)  
Genus: Stercorarius (7 species)

Genus Stercorarius includes jaegers and skuas, large gull-like seabirds that often steal food from gulls.


Brown Skua
Brown Skua (Stercorarius antarcticus)
Range: SO, AN: southern oceans and coasts: coastal s Argentina, Falkland Is., Tristan da Cunha group (sc South Atlantic), subantarctic and Antarctic is. from Cape Horn to New Zealand region
South Africa  
   
Photograph by Graham Searll   © All Rights Reserved.


Chilean Skua
Chilean Skua (Stercorarius chilensis)
Range: SA: coastal sc Chile and se Argentina to Cape Horn
Ushuaia, Argentina
  Note black cap and brownish color compared to South Polar Skua.
   
Photograph by dfaulder     Copyright and usage info


Long-tailed Jaeger
Long-tailed Jaeger (Stercorarius longicaudus pallescens)
Range: NA, PAL: Holarctic high and low Arctic tundra, locally subarctic: nw, se Greenland, Arctic n Scandinavia to ne Siberia and Kamchatka (e Russia); Arctic and w, s Alaska through Arctic Canada to Ellesmere and Baffin is.
Nome, Alaska,  
   
Photograph by Mick Thompson/Eastside Audubon     Copyright and usage info

Long-tailed Jaeger
Long-tailed Jaeger (Stercorarius longicaudus pallescens) Immature
Range: NA, PAL: Holarctic high and low Arctic tundra, locally subarctic: nw, se Greenland, Arctic n Scandinavia to ne Siberia and Kamchatka (e Russia); Arctic and w, s Alaska through Arctic Canada to Ellesmere and Baffin is.
United States
  Immature Long-tailed Jaegers are more grey than other immatures (Birds of Peru).
   
Photograph by Tim Lenz     Copyright and usage info

Has longest central tail feathers (longer than length of tail) of any Jaeger.

South Polar Skua
South Polar Skua (Stercorarius maccormicki)
Range: AN: coastal Antarctica, especially Ross Sea; also South Shetland and South Orkney is. (off Antarctic Pen.)
  Pale morph. Image credit: Henry Kaiser, NSF
   
Photograph by U.S. Government employee (see below)     Copyright and usage info

South Polar Skua
South Polar Skua (Stercorarius maccormicki)
Range: AN: coastal Antarctica, especially Ross Sea; also South Shetland and South Orkney is. (off Antarctic Pen.)
Massachusetts,
  Dark morph. Also note more white on wings than on those of jaegers.
   
Photograph by François Grenon   © All Rights Reserved.

Comes in pale and dark morph. Migrates between the Arctic and Antarctic, so could turn up anywhere.

Parasitic Jaeger
Parasitic Jaeger (Stercorarius parasiticus)
Range: NA, PAL: Holarctic low Arctic tundra, locally high Arctic and subarctic: w, s Greenland, Iceland, n Scotland, Scandinavian coasts including Baltic Sea, Svalbard (n of Norway), n Russia to ne Siberia and Kamchatka, Aleutian and Bering Sea is., w and sw Alaska, Arct
Germany
  Light morph.
   
Photograph by Andreas Trepte     Copyright and usage info

Parasitic Jaeger
Parasitic Jaeger (Stercorarius parasiticus)
Range: NA, PAL: Holarctic low Arctic tundra, locally high Arctic and subarctic: w, s Greenland, Iceland, n Scotland, Scandinavian coasts including Baltic Sea, Svalbard (n of Norway), n Russia to ne Siberia and Kamchatka, Aleutian and Bering Sea is., w and sw Alaska, Arct
Barrows, Alaska,
  Dark morph.
   
Photograph by budgora     Copyright and usage info


Pomarine Jaeger
Pomarine Jaeger (Stercorarius pomarinus)
Range: NA, PAL: Holarctic high Arctic tundra: erratically off sw Greenland, Svalbard (nesting unconfirmed; n of Norway), nw to ne Arctic Russia (including many high Arctic islands), high Arctic n Alaska and sw Alaska mainland, and Arctic Canada to Baffin I. (ne Canada)
Barrows, Alaska,  
   
Photograph by budgora     Copyright and usage info

Largest Jaeger. Black cap extends below bill (Birds of Peru). There is also a dark brown morph.

Great Skua
Great Skua (Stercorarius skua)
Range: PAL: Iceland, Faroe Is., Ireland, Scotland, Norway, Svalbard (n of Norway), and nw Russia to Novaya Zemlya
Handa Island, Highland, Scotland  
   
Photograph by Nigel Voaden   © All Rights Reserved.



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