Where do skuas migrate?

Where do skuas migrate?

Arctic skuas live most of their lives at sea, and come ashore only to breed in the Arctic summer. Once young jaegers leave the nest, they may not visit land for two years—until they have themselves reached breeding age. Parasitic jaegers are great travelers and annually migrate to winter in the Southern Hemisphere.

What does a south polar skua look like?

South polar skuas are large predatory seabirds. Adults are greyish brown above and have a whitish or straw-brown head and underparts. They have longish bills with a hooked tip, and webbed feet with sharp claws. They look like large dark gulls but have a fleshy cere above the upper mandible.

What do south polar skua eat?

The south polar skua eats fish, krill, squid, carrion, crustaceans, mollusks, and the eggs and chicks of seabirds. It may also follow ships at sea and eat garbage that is thrown overboard. The south polar skua is also a kleptoparasite. That means it steals food from other birds.

Do skuas eat Adelie penguins?

This Adelie Penguin egg was cracked and eaten by a South Polar Skua at Cape Crozier, Antarctica. At Cape Crozier, a South Polar Skua cruises over the penguin nests in its territory.

Where do skuas go in the winter?

Results Adult Great Skuas from Scotland wintered off northwest Africa and southern Europe. Adults from Iceland mostly wintered off Canada, with small numbers visiting northwest Africa and Europe.

Do Arctic skuas migrate?

The migration routes of the gull-like South Polar Skuas (Catharacta maccormicki) are amongst the longest for any bird, with annual journeys of more than 10,000 kilometres between their feeding and breeding grounds.

Are skuas endangered?

Skuas are not considered an endangered species, though their numbers may have dropped slightly in some areas because the population of one of their primary food sources, a bird called a burrowing petrel, is on the decline.

Are Adélie penguins aggressive?

Adélie penguins are fiercely protective, and will behave very aggressively if a predator make its way into a colony to try to eat their eggs or young. In particular, south polar skuas, large white and brown birds, will frequently try to nibble on penguins.

Do skuas live in Antarctica?

In fact, skuas are one of Antarctica’s top avian predators. There are two skua species in Antarctica, the brown skua and south polar skua. Both patrol King George Island in the South Shetlands as well as the nearby Antarctic Peninsula in search of prey. And hapless biologists.

How many types of skuas are there?

Great skuaParasitic jaegerStercorariusPomarine jaegerSouth polar skuaLong‑tailed jaeger
Skuas/Lower classifications

Is a skua a seagull?

The Antarctic skua is a little smaller than a sea gull, but has the same basic body shape. The Antarctic skua is brown and white, while sea gulls are white, gray, and black. Sea gulls and skuas both live near water, and so both eat fish and small ocean creatures. But sea gulls and skuas also eat food on land.

How big is a skua?

The great skua, or bonxie, is a bird about 60 cm (24 inches) long, resembling a gull but heavily built, with a brownish body and large, white wing patches. It is the only bird that breeds both in the Arctic and in the Antarctic.

Do seagulls eat penguins?

Penguin – Natural Threats For those living in Antarctic regions, the main threats on land are predatory birds like petrels and skuas. Seagulls and ibises threaten African penguins on land.

What’s the meanest penguin?

Chinstrap Penguin The species, which congregates on icebergs and small, barren islands in the sub-Antarctic region, are said to be the boldest and most aggressive of all penguin species.