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The brown skua (''Stercorarius antarcticus''), also known as the Antarctic skua, subantarctic skua, southern great skua, southern skua, or hākoakoa ( Māori), is a large seabird that breeds in the subantarctic and
It feeds on fish (often via kleptoparasitism), penguin chicks and other seabirds, small
Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds
{{Taxonbar, from=Q18987 brown skua Birds of Antarctica Birds of New Zealand Birds of the Falkland Islands Birds of Southern Africa Birds of islands of the Atlantic Ocean Fauna of the Prince Edward Islands Fauna of Heard Island and McDonald Islands Birds of subantarctic islands brown skua Taxa named by René Lesson Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN
Antarctic
The Antarctic ( or , American English also or ; commonly ) is a polar region around Earth's South Pole, opposite the Arctic region around the North Pole. The Antarctic comprises the continent of Antarctica, the Kerguelen Plateau and other ...
zones and moves further north when not breeding. Its taxonomy is highly complex and a matter of dispute, with some splitting it into two or three species: Falkland skua (''S. antarcticus''), Tristan skua (''S. hamiltoni''), and subantarctic skua (''S. lönnbergi''). To further confuse, it hybridizes with both the south polar and Chilean skuas, and the entire group has been considered to be a subspecies
In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...
of the great skua
The great skua (''Stercorarius skua''), sometimes known by the name bonxie in Britain, is a large seabird in the skua family Stercorariidae. It is roughly the size of a herring gull. It mainly eats fish caught at the sea surface or taken fr ...
, a species otherwise restricted to the Northern Hemisphere
The Northern Hemisphere is the half of Earth that is north of the Equator. For other planets in the Solar System, north is defined as being in the same celestial hemisphere relative to the invariable plane of the solar system as Earth's Nort ...
.
Diet
It feeds on fish (often via kleptoparasitism), penguin chicks and other seabirds, small mammal
Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fur or ...
s, eggs and carrion
Carrion () is the decaying flesh of dead animals, including human flesh.
Overview
Carrion is an important food source for large carnivores and omnivores in most ecosystems. Examples of carrion-eaters (or scavengers) include crows, vultures, c ...
.
Description
This is the heaviest species of skua and rivals the largest gulls, the great black-backed gull andglaucous gull
The glaucous gull (''Larus hyperboreus'') is a large gull, the second-largest gull in the world. It breeds in Arctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere and winters south to shores of the Holarctic. The genus name is from Latin ''larus'', which a ...
, as the heaviest species in the shorebird order although not as large in length or wingspan. It is in length, in wingspan and has a body mass of .''CRC Handbook of Avian Body Masses'' by John B. Dunning Jr. (Editor). CRC Press (1992), . ''S. a. hamiltoni'' measured on Gough Island
upright=1.3, Map of Gough island
Gough Island ( ), also known historically as Gonçalo Álvares, is a rugged volcanic island in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is a dependency of Tristan da Cunha and part of the British overseas territory of Sain ...
, weighed an average of in 9 males and in 9 females. ''S. a. lonnbergi'' measured in the Chatham Islands weighed an average of in 30 males and an average of in 32 females. The latter is one of the highest colony mean body mass for any living species of shorebird.''CRC Handbook of Avian Body Masses, 2nd Edition'' by John B. Dunning Jr. (Editor). CRC Press (2008), .
A study in 2016 reported that brown skuas can identify individual human beings, possibly indicating high cognitive abilities.
Brown skuas have been noted for sometimes bonding with humans who live for extended periods in Antarctica, such as the Eastern Orthodox clergymen at Trinity Church, and engaging in playful or apparently mischievous behavior with them.
References
Further reading
* *External links
* Brown skua, subantarctic skuaSpecies text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds
{{Taxonbar, from=Q18987 brown skua Birds of Antarctica Birds of New Zealand Birds of the Falkland Islands Birds of Southern Africa Birds of islands of the Atlantic Ocean Fauna of the Prince Edward Islands Fauna of Heard Island and McDonald Islands Birds of subantarctic islands brown skua Taxa named by René Lesson Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN